


Vigilante Business

by Dharma_Snowbush



Series: Supergirl Redux [3]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Action, Angst, F/F, Fluff, Kara Danvers don't need no man, Sanvers - Freeform, Season 2 Rewrite
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-22
Updated: 2017-06-23
Packaged: 2018-11-03 12:48:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 21,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10967553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dharma_Snowbush/pseuds/Dharma_Snowbush
Summary: Having been blackmailed into investigating L Corp, Kate Kate finds herself stuck in National City. But her presence causes trouble for both Danvers sisters. Alex has to come to terms with a few secrets in Maggie's past and Kara must decide whether or not to defend her best friend when it appears Lena may be double crossing her.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is part three of my season 2 rewrite and plot-wise immediately follows "Mesmerize." Full disclosure, this ended up being really more of a Kate Kane/Batwoman story, rather than a Supergirl one, so if that's not your jam, this probably isn't the fic for you.

Kate Kane reclined back on the arm of the couch in Lena Luthor's office. They had spent the morning going over a few of the specifics for the Alien Amnesty charity gala L Corp and the Kane Foundation were co-hosting later in the week.

"I have to hand it to you," Lena said, looking over a few invoices, "I think we're going to have a great turnout."

Kate swirled the clear liquid in tumbler she was holding watching the ice cubes rattle against the sides. The alien refugee crisis was an important issue for her, but it was also crucial that she keep up appearances as a liquor soaked Gotham socialite. It was one of the reasons she insisted to the Kane Foundation board that they partner with L Corp, she knew Lena was more than capable of pulling off an event of this magnitude with little help from Kate. But as far as her board-members were concerned, she was just looking for an excuse to spend a few weeks a little closer to the ocean.

"I'd say, 'don't thank me, you've done most of the work', but I'm not one to turn down praise; earned or otherwise." Kate said, throwing her arm over the back of the couch. "In fact, I think this means we both deserve a bit of a celebration. Can I fix you a drink?"

Kate hopped up and made her way to Lena's drink cart.

"I suppose I must. You're already a few laps ahead of me." Lena chuckled. "How about we break open something a little nicer than the vodka?"

"The Macallan 18 it is," Kate set down her glass of water and poured them both a few fingers of scotch. Lena got up from her desk and met Kate back by the couch. She took the glass from Kate, first offering it up for cheers before taking a sip. Kate gently clinked her glass against Lena's, but hesitated. She had been enjoying herself, she and Lena had a fair amount in common, but she reminded herself there was another reason she was there.

J'onn. The DEO. Blackmail.

She was supposed to be digging skeletons from the Luthor closet, but the more time she spent with Lena, the more it felt like betrayal.

"Is something wrong?" Lena asked, noticing Kate's faraway look.

"What? No." Kate said, taking a large gulp of scotch, too fast. "Are we almost done here? I've got a few places to be and a couple of ladies to entertain." Kate forced herself to put on her signature smirk.

"Ever the gal about town, aren't you?" Lena commented, crossing her legs.

"Unless," Kate started, "You'd be interested in skipping out with me for a long lunch" She smiled her best wicked smile.

"It's a tempting offer, I've heard tales of your marathon lunches." Lena stood again, walking back over to her desk and picking up the phone. "But unfortunately, I have plans."

Lena dialed, the phone only appearing to ring once before it was answered.

"Jess. Yes. Is Ms. Danvers waiting? Wonderful, send her in, please."

Kate watched intently as Lena spoke with her secretary. She was curious to know what kind of woman could have such a firm grasp on Lena's attention. A moment later, a young woman joined them in Lena's office. Kate barely glanced at the plain looking girl who walked in wearing a pink cardigan and khaki capris, wondering what Lena was doing with that kind of girl.

"Kate, I'd like to introduce you to CatCo Media reporter, Kara Danvers." Kara put her hand out to Kate, but Kate merely nodded in acknowledgement of Kara's presence. It started to click, obviously Lena was entertaining the young reporter, in an exchange for some good press, most likely. Kate took another drink of her scotch, considering them for a moment. She had to give props to Lena, Kate had done far worse for far less. There had been more than one pretty girl in Kate's past who caused her to be her less than steadfast in her principles.

Kate was about to excuse herself when she took once last look at Kara Danvers. This time, she noticed something odd, or rather, a few inconsistencies. Was it the way Kara's sweater didn't fit quite right? The fabric stretched thin across her back and biceps. Or that while Kara appeared to be a tall girl, she kept her shoulders slumped forward and her head tilted down as if she was trying to make herself seem smaller. Kate knew a thing or two about putting on a persona and it appeared to her that Kara was intentionally making herself forgettable.

"Well, I guess this is my cue to leave, I'm not much of a third wheel," Kate winked a Kara and handed her the half empty glass of liquor. "Lena, if you change your mind, you know how to get a hold of me."

To test a theory, Kate swung around dramatically, knocking into Kara on her way out. Kara took a quick step back, passed the glass from one hand to another to avoid spilling any of the liquid, and placed her palm gently on Kate's back, guiding her to the door. Kate noted her actions were done in one smooth movement, as if she was able to anticipate or see in slow motion. It was almost superhuman. On her way out of the office, Kate noted to herself that Kara Danvers was definitely hiding something.

* * *

Alex focused intently on her laptop.

That was a lie.

She was sitting in front of her computer, her eyelids heavy as Maggie leaned impossibly close to her, pressing her lips on Alex's neck.

"Maggie," Alex said, stretching her name out for a long second. "We're supposed to be working."

"Don't blame me," Maggie murmured, nuzzling her nose against Alex's skin. "You're the one who started this."

Alex couldn't argue there. They had been holed up in a DEO office all morning long doing research on Cadmus. Things around the city had been quiet recently, so Alex was using the time to investigate the criminal organization. But an hour ago, Maggie had reached her arms over her head in an attempt to work out some soreness in her muscles. Her shirt had ridden up and Alex couldn't stop herself from running her fingers across the soft skin of Maggie's stomach.

They hadn't gotten much work done after that point.

"We can at least pretend we're working," Alex said.

Maggie sighed, resting her forehead against Alex's shoulder in defeat. "Alright, what have we got so far?"

"Not much. We know Lillian Luthor is still in prison awaiting trial. The Cadmus labs were torn down and presumably moved by the members we weren't able to apprehend, but we've had no luck figuring out where they may have moved to." Alex pressed a few keys on the keyboard, switching which documents were displayed on the computer screen.

"Winn has been pulling satellite feed and tracking any large shipments coming into the city," Maggie added, "But nothing yet."

"They may not even be within National City limits anymore. This could all be a waste of our time." Alex said.

"We'll find them. It won't be a waste." Maggie rubbed the side of Alex's arm.

Alex sighed, "I know they're up to something, I feel it in my gut. It's suspicious that Lillian Luthor is sitting quietly in some jail cell. If she's not actively fighting this, then she must be plotting something bigger."

"Then let's get to it," Maggie said, grabbing a box of papers they hadn't yet sifted through. 

Alex propped her elbow on the table and leaned her head against her fist. She watched as Maggie spread a bunch of files out, tucking her leg up under herself so she could sit higher to see them all.

"You're the best, you know that, right?" Alex smiled.

"You better believe I'm the best," Maggie responded without looking up. "Today is my day off, I could be at home drinking beers and watching the women's soccer match. Hey wait a minute," Maggie finally glanced over to Alex, "Why aren't I doing that?"

Maggie made a move to stand up, but Alex grabbed her by the belt.

"It's because I'm lucky that you love me," Alex said, pulling Maggie into a kiss.

"Oh, that's right," Maggie said, leaning back slightly before smiling into another kiss. "I love you."

* * *

Back from her lunch with Lena, Kara skipped into CatCo. She loved her new position with the _National City Scene_. The job was perfect for her, it allowed her to pursue her passion for journalism while also helping to protect the city. It was an uncanny move by Kara's boss, Mary Bromfield. Figuring out a way for Kara to juggle both sides of her life without actually knowing she had two sides to juggle.

"Afternoon, Kara." Mary greeted, looking up from her conversation with one of Kara's coworkers.

"Hello Ms. Bromfield," Kara replied, settling down at her desk.

"How did your meeting with Lena Luthor go?" Mary asked, stepping toward Kara's desk. "Are we all set to cover the gala?"

"Yep. Lena is giving us the full exclusive and she's pretty sure we'll be able to get photos and quotes from Kate Kane as well."

"That'll be something. I've heard Kane is unpredictable, but if anyone can wrangle that woman, it'll be Lena Luthor. Good work." Mary turned back to the reporter she stepped away from, but stopped when Kara said her name.

"Ms. Bromfield." Kara clicked her pen a few times. She had been trying to think of a way to approach the subject of the strange caped woman who vanished as quickly as she appeared the day of the fire. Kara was nervous, the first time she brought it up, Mary dismissed her, so Kara felt it was best just to dive in again. "This gala seems like the perfect opportunity for our mysterious alien to show her face, don't you think?"

Mary narrowed her eyebrows. "The woman from the fire?" She said slowly, watching Kara nod in agreement. "I thought we all decided it was Supergirl testing out a new uniform. A non-story."

"Well," Kara drawled, "That's what you said. I'm not convinced it was actually Supergirl."

"But you are convinced this woman is an alien?" Mary asked.

Kara had spent a lot of time thinking about this. The logical part of her brain insisted there was no way the woman could be from Krypton. There were no Kryptonians from Fort Rozz that were still unaccounted for and the possibility of another survivor seemed unlikely. Maybe she was from Daxam. The people there were genetically similar to those on Krypton so it would make sense they would be similarly affected by the yellow sun.

"It is the only explanation," Kara finally answered.

"Can I ask why you're so fixated on this" Mary shifted her grip on her crutches. "Don't you have enough on your plate keeping up with Supergirl?"

Kara set her pen down and stared at it for a moment. "She saved my sister." Kara said quietly. "If she hadn't have been there that day...well, I don't want to think about it."

Mary sighed, "I guess if you're sure." She chuckled lightly to herself seeing Kara perk up, but the opportunity to tease Kara a bit was too tempting to turn down. "Now that I think about it, the woman in red suit was much taller and more muscular than Supergirl."

Kara sat up straight, pulling her shoulders back, "Hey!" She nearly shouted in alarm. "I don't know about that. I think it just seemed that way because her suit had short sleeves."

Mary ignored Kara's protests, "OK, Kara. Don't spend a ton of your time on this story, but if she happens to show up at the gala, go for it."

Mary walked back to her office, leaving Kara to sputter pleas in her wake.

"Ms. Bromfield? You don't really think Supergirl looks short, do you?" Kara called after her. "Ms. Bromfield, should I tell Supergirl to switch to a suit without sleeves?"


	2. Chapter 2

Kate stood outside of a bar holding a cigarette. She didn't smoke, but she sometimes liked to use it as an excuse to step away from whoever she was with. In this case, it was a friendly blonde who talked a little too much about herself and had hands that wandered.

Kate had been keeping an eye on the main door of the apartment building across the street. Kara's building, Kate had learned and she wanted to see if the reporter went anywhere odd late at night. She also thought she might be able to get Kara to talk about Lena. Kate gave one last hard look at the building and slipped the cigarette back into her jacket pocket. She had been outside long enough that the woman she had been at the bar with would probably be wondering where she had gone.

"Ms. Kane," The same deep voice that had stopped her a few nights before spoke out to her again.

"Director," Kate spoke into the darkness. J'onn stepped out from the shadows and nodded sharply at her. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Just checking in, Making sure we were still both on the same page."

"Yes, sir." Kate mock saluted at him.

"But you haven't found anything yet?" He asked.

"I promise, when I do, you'll be the first to know."

"I want to remind you, we had an agreement. You do this favor for me and I keep your father’s name out of your business. That being said, I can't help but question if you're intentionally dragging your feet." J'onn mused.

"I'm sorry," Kate said sharply, "I didn't realize we were on a timeline."

"We're not. I just wonder if Batwoman might be able to get the job done more quickly." J'onn said.

Kate clenched her teeth in anger. She was trying to handle this covert investigation as Kate Kane, hoping to avoid donning her alter ego. She hated the idea that Batwoman might be leveraged against someone without her consent.

"You've enlisted me to help you," Kate said, emphasizing 'enlisting' to remind him how they came to be working together. It was anything other than voluntary on her part. "The least you can do is trust that I'm handling the situation the best way I can."

J'onn threw his hands up in submission, "OK. For now, I'll let you do it your way. But know that I'm still keeping tabs on you."

"Roger," Kate said, her attention drifting. She was suddenly very glad J'onn had stopped her, because at that very moment, Kara Danvers left her apartment. "Are we done here? I've got a lady waiting."

J'onn gestured back to the bar before vanishing back into the shadows. Kate feigned reaching for the door, checking to see if he was really gone. Convinced he was, she jogged quickly down the street in the direction she had last seen Kara. Kate followed Kara's path for a few blocks watching as she turned down into an alley that appeared to dead end.

"What sort of debauchery are you into, Kara Danvers?" Kate whispered to herself. When Kate reached the end of the alley, she saw where Kara had been headed. A door opened up to a hole in the wall bar. Kate looked around the place, impressed that mild-mannered Kara Danvers frequented a place with a rough looking clientele. Rough looking and not all human, Kate noted.

She spotted Kara sitting at the bar chatting animatedly with the female bartender. Kate swaggered across the room, sidling into a stool next to Kara. She listened to Kara's conversation for a minute, she was telling an innocuous story about her friend 'Win' accidentally dropping and smashing his small scale model of the International Space Station.

Another minute passed before Kate heard her opportunity to cut in.

"Excuse me," Kate said, watching Kara turned toward her. "Do I know you?"

Kara's eyes narrowed trying to place Kate's face before the recognition dawned on her. "Yes!" Kara said enthusiastically, reaching out to shake Kate's hand again. Kate was starting to notice Kara approached everything with unbridled enthusiasm. "I'm Kara Danvers, we met the other day at L Corp."

"Right," Kate shook her finger in Kara's direction. "The reporter."

"Exactly. In fact, I'll be covering the amnesty gala you're hosting. I'm looking forward to talking to you about it." Kara said.

"Sure, sure. But who wants to talk business at this time of night. I want to talk about something fun. You probably hear all kinds of sordid tales. So, which of National City's bigwigs has the dirtiest laundry." Kate winked.

Kara blushed a bit, "Oh, well, I don't know," She stuttered nervously.

"C'mon. You're a reporter, so you must know all kinds of secrets." Kate crossed her legs and slid a little closer toward Kara who continued to be unable to put a sentence together. "Alright, if you don’t want to gossip, how about you tell me what’s deal with Lena Luthor and Supergirl?"

"I'm not sure I understand what you're asking," Kara said hesitatingly, her nervousness turning into something more guarded.

"Coming from that family? There's no way Lena isn't working some ulterior motive." Kate said.

"As far as I know, Lena has been nothing but kind to Supergirl. But I really don't know much more. Sorry." Kara turned away from Kate.

Kate clicked her tongue. "Kara Danvers, you're not being straight with me."

"How do you mean?" Kara asked.

"I've done my research. I know that you seem to be Supergirl's personal spokeswoman as well as having done more than one profile on Lena Luthor." Kate leaned toward Kara, placing a hand on her shoulder. She dropped her voice low. "And I think you know more than you're letting on."

Kara stood up abruptly, backing away from Kate and shaking her head. "Like I said, I'm sorry I can't be more help." She waved goodbye to the bartender and made a quick exit.

"I will figure you out, Kara Danvers." Kate called just before the door swung shut behind her.

* * *

"Winn!" Alex shouted down the hall, "Do you have those shipping manifests I asked for?"

"Transferring them now." He replied.

Alex and Winn had been tracking all of the shipments coming into the city through the dockyards. Alex had a suspicion that if Cadmus was rebuilding, they would move their equipment and supplies by ship. Typically, there was less law enforcement patrolling that area and the dock crew were notoriously susceptible to bribes. It would be the perfect way for Lillian Luthor to stay under the radar.

Once the files downloaded to her computer, she skimmed the names. To her dismay, nothing jumped out at her. 

"Winn is this everything?" Alex asked, hoping there would be more. Weeks of checking these manifests had turned up nothing. Alex was starting to question her instincts.

Winn came up behind her, checking her files. "Yep, that's everything." He turned.

"Wait, Winn." Alex grabbed his arm. "Look at this entry here." Alex highlighted a row as Winn leaned over her shoulder to get a closer look.

"L.L. Thorul?" He read.

"That's suspicious looking, right?" Alex asked.

He squinted at the name, "Oh, of course. 'Thorul.' It's an anagram of 'Luthor.'"

"It's not much to go on, but it's our first lead in months." Alex stood, walking with Winn back to his desk. "I'll guess I'll go down there and see if it's worth investigating further."

"An anagram? That's so disappointing." Winn said to himself, slumping back in his chair.

"Well it nearly fooled both of us, maybe the brilliance is in its simplicity." Alex said, checking the clip in her gun.

"Still, I expected something more savvy from the head of Cadmus."

Alex ignored Winn's whinging, pulling out her cell phone to make a call. It rang twice before Maggie picked up.

"Mags? I think we've got a lead on whatever Lillian has got planned for Cadmus. A shipment in coming into the docks. I'm going to check it out. Can you meet me?" Alex asked, walking briskly out of the DEO.

"Shit, I can't get away right now. Can you call Kara?" Maggie asked.

"No, on the off chance that whatever is inside the crate might be Kryptonite, I don't want to involve her. Not until we're sure what we're dealing with."

"Al, you can't go down there alone." Maggie said, her voice laced with concern.

"It's probably nothing." Alex insisted, "I'll just swing by and then I'll see you at home, OK?"

"Alex." Maggie tried to protest again, but Alex had already hung up the call.

Maggie rapped her fingers against the screen of her phone, not able to shake the worry. Normally she trusted Alex to keep herself safe, but as quick as their call had been was all it had taken for a bad feeling to settle in the pit of Maggie's stomach.

Her mind was made up. Maggie dialed another number, trying to plan out what she was going to say.

"Mags, I certainly didn't expect to hear from you again," Kate answered.

"Hey Kate." Maggie's voice was soft, "I know I have no right to ask you for anything, but I need a favor."

"Anything," Kate said immediately.

"I need Batwoman to go down to the dockyards." Maggie explained, "Alex is down there and I think she needs help."

Maggie held her breath, waiting for Kate's response. 

"I'll be there in 10 minutes."

* * *

Alex crept carefully through the dockyard. She had talked to a couple of the old-timers in the office who said there may have been some people unloading one of the shipping containers, but they couldn't be sure. Either way, Alex was staying alert.

She passed through endless rows of rusted containers, looking for the number that was associated with "L.L. Thorul" while also making sure the area was clear. She hadn't seen anyone, suspicious or otherwise.

She came upon the right container after a few minutes. She did a lap around it to check for anyone who might be guarding it, but the place still appeared deserted. Alex holstered her gun, grabbing the heavy steel latch to the container with both hands. She took a deep breath and pulled down, putting all her weight on the latch. It made a loud clang that echoed through the dockyard. Alex tugged the door open, the hinges squealing in protest.

Alex removed her flashlight from her belt and clicked it on as she stepped carefully into the cavernous shipping container, waiting for her eyes to adjust. She flashed the beam of light from side to side, but was dismayed to find it nearly empty. She spotted a few wooden crates along the back wall, but once she got closer, she was able to see they were already opened. Whatever had been inside had been removed.

"Don't move!" A male voice shouted from behind her.

Alex froze, internally chastising herself for getting caught off guard.

"She's got a gun on her thigh," a second male voice observed.

"Don't you dare reach for it," the first said. "Put your hands up slowly and turn around."

Alex complied, seeing two men in masks pointing semi-automatic rifles in her direction.

"Listen," Alex said calmly, "You don't want to do anything stupid."

"No, what would be stupid is for you to keep talking." The second man said.

Alex watched his finger move to the trigger when something caught her eye. A projectile careened toward them from outside Alex's sight-line and collided with the head of the first man. He collapsed limply to the ground. The second man whipped around, pointing his gun in the direction he thought it came from.

He was wrong.

A figure swung down from a spot above the entrance of the container, planting thick boots into the center of the man's back. The woman, Alex guessed based on the flowing red hair, landed on top of the man, striking him once on the side of his head, her heavy gauntlets making a sickening thump as her fist connected with his skull.

The woman stood up, facing Alex and Alex was able to get the full picture of her rescuer. Vibrant red hair spilled from a tall, pointed cowl. Her all black body suit was accented by red boots, belt, and some sort of design on her chest that Alex couldn't immediately identify. Alex also took note of her cape, which looked larger and more cumbersome than Kara's; as if it was weighted. Alex guessed she used it for protection rather than aerodynamics.

"What the fuck?" Alex exclaimed. It was the only response she could think of uttering to the scene in front of her.

"Hello to you too," The woman said, taking a few steps toward her.

Alex unholstered her weapon, but kept the gun pointed toward the ground.

"Take it easy," The woman put up a hand.

"How did you find me..." Alex trailed off, examining the red symbol. It reminded her of an old case she had once looked into. An investigation started by a former DEO Agent, Cameron Chase. "Batwoman? That's who you are, right?"

"You go it. And you are?" Kate feigned ignorance.

"Agent Danvers, DEO." Alex stated.

"You've gotta be shitting me." Kate sighed. That was something she didn't know. She had Alex pegged as a fed the one time their paths had crossed. "You're DEO too? I can't get away from you guys."

Alex frowned, but shook off Batwoman's comment. "What are you doing here? I thought you were strictly a 'by the cover of darkness' kind of person."

"You seemed like you could use some help, so I made an exception." Batwoman said.

Alex looked at Batwoman skeptically. "Listen, those guys probably weren't the only ones here. We should sweep the area to make sure and then get out of here."

"Roger that." Kate agreed.

They made their way back out into the shipyard. Kate stepped out ahead of Alex, signaling for Alex to follow her. They split up, each taking different rows. Alex cleared her area, looking around for Batwoman. She heard a grunt some muffled grappling. She turned a corner to see Batwoman dropping an unconscious Cadmus guard to the ground.

"On your six!" Batwoman shouted, having turned to see Alex.

Alex whirled around in time to redirect the gunfire of another Cadmus guard by striking his arm with the heel of her palm and twisting his wrist until elbow popped. He dropped the gun with a scream of pain, Alex knocking him out with a high arching kick.

"Nicely done," Batwoman commented with a nod of approval. "Looks like you're more than just some jack booted government thug."

"Thanks, I think." Alex said. "Listen, Let's get a higher vantage point and see if we can spot anyone else."

Alex and Batwoman climbed up to the top of one of the shipping containers.

"Stay low," Batwoman whispered. She crouched down peering around the yard, Alex doing the same.

"I think we're clear," Alex said, standing up. "So, what now? You going to escort me back to the DEO?"

"I don't plan on going back there unless I have-" A glint of light reflecting off a scope caught Kate's eye. She shoved Alex off the edge of the container as the sound of a rifle firing tore through the air. Kate fired back with a small stun grenade, she heard a cry of pain and the heavy sound of a body crumpling and Kate knew she hit her mark.

Kate looked over the edge to see Alex writhing on the ground.

"Agent Danvers, are you OK?" She called down. Alex coughed a few times trying to catch her breath.

"Yeah," Alex groaned, "I'm fine."

"Let's get out of here before anyone else shows up." Kate jumped down, landing next to Alex. She reached her hand out to help Alex up.

"Good idea." Alex said, slowly getting back up on her feet. "After you."

* * *

Alex shuffled slowly down the hall to her apartment. The fall made her feel three decades older. She struggled even to get her apartment keys out of her jacket and unlock the door.

Maggie was in the kitchen looking at her phone when Alex entered. She had been not so patiently waiting for Alex to come home. Ever since her phone call to Kate that afternoon, she knew she was going to have to talk to Alex; to confess the extent of her relationship with Kate. Maggie feared her history with Kate was a sore spot with Alex, even if Alex didn't admit it.

She leapt up to greet Alex with a quick peck on the lips.

"Hey, Al," Maggie said, "How was your day?"

"Oh, I've had better," Alex replied making her way over to the bedroom. She took a shirt out of her drawer, wanting to change but the pain from her broken ribs made it difficult to maneuver properly.

"Can you give me a hand here?" Alex asked, struggling with her shirt.

Maggie grabbed the hem of Alex's shirt, pulling it over her head. Alex clenched her teeth, trying to stifle a pained moan.

Without her shirt on, Maggie to see the spread of black and blue stretching across Alex's back and side.

"What happened?" Maggie asked.

"Had an interesting afternoon which ended with Batwoman pushing me off the top of an eight foot shipping container." Alex said, partly muffled as Maggie helped her put her clean t-shirt on.

"What!" Maggie looked horrified.

"It's fine, it was actually good she did. Kept me from catching a bullet. I'll tell you everything later, but right now I want nothing more that to lay down next to you with a glass of whiskey and fall asleep."

Maggie considered holding off talking to Alex, but she was afraid if she didn't do it now, she wouldn't be able to work up the courage again. And it would only be worse the longer she waited.

"Listen, before we do that, I need to tell you something," Maggie said.

"Alright," Alex said, sitting gingerly down onto the couch.

"There's been no good time to tell you this, but you need to hear it. I don't want to hide anything from you."

Alex kept her gaze fixed on Maggie who took a deep breath.

"You remember Kate?" Maggie started, nervously twisting her fingers.

"Your ex-girlfriend." Alex said.

"Kate was more than my girlfriend. She was my fiancee." Maggie said, keeping her eyes on the ground. She couldn't bring herself to look at Alex.

The admission hung in the air for a long moment.

"You were engaged?" Alex finally asked.

"Alex, please listen, it's not what it sounds like."

"You were planning on marrying her, how is that now what it sounds like?" Alex staggered to her feet, wincing in pain and holding her arm against her side.

"Because it's more complicated than that. Our relationship was falling apart around us. We though maybe if we could pretend to be happy, our problems would go away." Maggie's throat tightened, straining the end of her sentence and a hot tear streamed down her cheek. "We got engaged for all the wrong reasons and ultimately we knew it was never going to work out. But at the time, we just weren't able to admit it yet."

Alex felt like she hit the ground again, all the air getting knocked from her lungs.

"Maggie, I don't know how you want me to respond to this." Alex said, her voice lacking emotion.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner," Maggie whimpered, tears falling more freely.

"It's like the lies never stop with you," Alex grabbed her backpack from its spot leaning against a leg of the coffee table. "What's next? You're wanted for some crime spree. Or maybe, you're Batwoman."

Maggie winced, Alex's accusation hitting dangerously close to yet something else Maggie was hiding.

"I can't stay here tonight," Alex said, reaching the door.

"Alex, please don't. Talk to me."

Alex hesitated, the door halfway open. She turned slightly, Maggie saw the sadness and hurt in her eyes. She wished Alex would shut the door, come back in, and let Maggie gather her up in her arms.

The door slammed shut, Alex leaving Maggie standing alone in their apartment.


	3. Chapter 3

Kara gave Alex a wide berth the next morning. She had been surprised to find Alex at her door the night before, her face angry and tear stained. Kara didn't know exactly what was wrong, Alex hadn't been forthcoming with details. She had stormed into the apartment, grabbed a blanket off the back of the couch and curled up in Kara's bed.

Alex had spent the morning snapping at everyone who crossed her path including both Winn and Kara. No one was working fast enough in Alex's opinion or they didn't have the paperwork she needed or the coffee was too cold. She had the entire staff walking on eggshells. Even so, they had managed to trace the shipment to a Chechen arms dealer and discovered Lillian Luthor had figured out a way of smuggling in enough plastic explosives to level a city block.

J'onn and Alex were going over what they knew, trying to come up with a plan for Kara.

"It's clear they're going to make a move and soon," Alex said, her hands resting on her belt.

"Do you know if Lena has had any contact with Lillian?" J'onn asked, eyes sliding over to Kara.

"Of course not." Kara balked at his question, even though she didn't know that for a fact. She and Lena hadn't talked about her mother's arrest. "Lena has no interest in associating with her mother."

"Then we'll have to assume she may be a target." Alex said. "Isn't she having some fancy shindig? That would be a likely place for Lillian to stage an attack."

"I'm supposed to be there covering it for CatCo," Kara explained. "Switching back and forth is not the easiest thing to do."

"Then we will have a team of agents there as security and if we need you, Supergirl, we'll let you know." Alex looked to J'onn for confirmation of her plan.

He shook his head, "A team yes, but not lead by you."

"What do you mean?" Alex said sharply.

"You need to take a few days. Let those ribs heal. In the meantime, I've called someone in to cover for you." J'onn gestured toward another person walking toward the group.

Batwoman.

"Who is that?" Kara asked.

"J'onn, you can't be serious." Alex seethed, ignoring Kara's question. "You don't even know who she is."

"I know enough." J'onn said firmly. "And that's an order, Agent Danvers. Go home and get some rest.

"You're taking me off my own case? For some two-bit, wannabe hero with a bunch of fancy gadgets?"

Batwoman stood stiffly, her face impassive as Alex let loose her tirade.

"This is bullshit, J'onn." Alex yelled, shoving past Kara and knocking a computer monitor off a desk in anger.

"Don't mind her," Kara said to Batwoman, "She's not having the best day. It doesn't have anything to do with you."

"I wouldn't be too sure of that," Kate replied with a shrug. Maggie had texted her the night before, explaining that she had admitted to Alex that she and Kate had been engaged. So Kate was pretty sure she knew exactly why Alex was in a bad mood.

"Anyway, I'm Supergirl!" Kara introduced herself, excitedly grabbing Batwoman's hand to shake vigorously. "I'm really excited to be working with you. Hey, cool utility belt, I bet you can carry all kinds of things in that. I don't really have any pockets in my suit, but I guess it's OK because I don't really need anything but myself!" Kara flexed her arms and laughed.

"I do have one place to put things," Kara continued, pointing to a spot where her cape met her left shoulder, "But mostly I keep snacks there." She pulled out a granola bar, unwrapping it and taking a bite.

Kate stared at Kara for a long second before turning to J'onn, "I think this was a mistake."

J'onn smiled, "Don't underestimate Supergirl, I think you'll find her to be a powerful ally."

Kate turned her attention back to Kara who was still smiling widely.

"Fine." Kate grudgingly agreed. "Given the assumption that Cadmus is targeting the L Corp Amnesty gala, what is your plan?"

"We'll set up security. Make sure all attendees are accounted for and that no one who shouldn't be there gets in. We need to make sure we protect Lena." Kara said.

Kate looked back to J'onn again, she wasn't sure how much Supergirl knew about his suspicions about Lena Luthor. He crossed his arms and shook his head almost imperceptibly.

Kate got the message, Supergirl was on a need to know basis for this. Kate cleared her throat, "I think it is naive of you to be so trusting of Lena Luthor given her family's predilection for domestic terrorism."

Kate watched Supergirl's sunny face shift into something harder. She stood up straight, showing off her full stature and placed her fists on her hips.

"Batwoman, I'm starting to get a clearer picture of how you see me." Kara's voice was no longer lilting and cheerful. Instead she spoke more slowly, this time firm and commanding. "I need you to know that I am not some innocent child, unaware of the cruelty of this world. I have known loss and betrayal. So when I tell you I trust Lena Luthor, I'm not doing it blindly. She has demonstrated to me the strength of her character and I have chosen to put my faith in her."

Kate was taken aback by Supergirl's speech. She knew Supergirl was some sort of invulnerable alien, much like her cousin, and had thought the girl was more brawn than brains. Kate never thought much of Supergirl's life beyond throwing punches. J'onn was right, Kate was already underestimating her.

"OK, Supergirl." Kate said, "Unless we find any evidence suggesting otherwise, I'll believe Lena Luthor is the kind of person you say she is."

"Thank you," Kara replied, "I won't let you regret trusting me."

* * *

Kara tapped her straw against the table, waiting for her and Lena's food to be delivered. She and Lena had started taking turns choosing where they met for lunch. Lena's tastes ran more toward upscale bistros while Kara delighted in dragging Lena to the greasiest spoons she could find. Somehow, despite the menu's limited selection of starches and breakfast meats, Lena still managed to convince the fry cook to make her an egg white omelet with spinach and mushrooms.

Lena needed a minute to check a message, which let Kara get lost in her own thoughts. She couldn't shake the conversation she had with Batwoman earlier that day. Kara was glad she had stood up for Lena to Batwoman. Lena had enough people in this city doubting her motivations, when really she was doing everything in her power to change the minds of those who thought they knew her.

"Earth to Kara," Lena joked, pulling Kara out of her daze,"What's on your mind?"

"Nothing, just work stuff." Kara said, unwrapping her straw and sticking it into her glass of chocolate milk.

"Work stuff or _work stuff_?" Lena emphasized the second, clearly meaning Supergirl's work, not Kara's.

Kara wanted to be honest with Lena, but she also didn't want to unnecessarily worry her. "We think Cadmus is rebuilding." Kara started off. They didn't actually have any proof Lillian was behind it all, so she didn't yet bring up her suspicions.

Lena set her phone down on the table, "Well, I suppose I'm not surprised. And you think my mother is behind this again?"

"I don't know," Kara said truthfully. "But if she is, she'll probably target the Amnesty gala."

"Of course, my mother wouldn't be able to resist such a dramatic return." Lena said bitterly.

"You don't have to worry," Kara said, resting her hand gently atop Lena's. "I'll be there to stop her. I won't let anything happen."

The waitress arrived with their food and Kara leaned back into her chair. She watched Lena pick up her fork and poke at her omelette.

"Lena, I need to ask you one question," Kara said seriously.

Lena put her fork down on her napkin, "Of course,"

"Have you had any contact with your mother since she was arrested? I'm not asking because I think you have, it's just..." Kara paused and frowned, trying to explain herself. "It's just that I need to make sure Supergirl has as much information as possible."

"I understand, Kara," Lena assured her, "And no, I haven't heard anything from Lillian."

Kara understood the hurt Lena must be feeling. Wanting to be able to communicate with her mother, but knowing that doing so would make her seem guilty.

"Can I ask you another question?" Kara looked at Lena who had her head down, staring intently at her plate. "How did you, you know, know?"

Lena furrowed her brow in confusion at Kara's abstruse question, but when she caught Kara's smile and the glimmer in her eye, she realized Kara was asking about her.

"I was hoping you'd assume I had excellent deduction skills, but the truth is far more embarrassing."

"Well now you have to tell me," Kara laughed.

"Your shampoo," Lena blushed, "Cherry almond? That's what mostly confirmed my suspicions. I felt it couldn't be a coincidence that you and Supergirl used the same brand."

"That's clever, Miss Luthor." Kara laughed even louder as Lena tried to hide her face in her hands. "I guess I need to switch shampoos more often."

Lena shoved a large bite of omelette in her mouth, "OK, now that you know, let's never bring it up again."

Kara held up her hand, palm out, placing the other hand flat on her chest. "I promise, your secret is safe with me."

* * *

First and foremost, Kate was still responsible for tailing Lena Luthor. She had followed Lena to the diner, waiting across the street while she ate lunch with Kara Danvers. Nothing out of the ordinary, as far as Kate could tell. According to Lena’s assistant, Ms. Luthor met regularly with Ms. Danvers for working lunches. 

Lena and Kara parted ways outside of the restaurant, Kara appearing to head in the direction of CatCo, while Lena fiddled with her phone. Kate thought she was calling for a car, but as soon as Kara disappeared down the block, Lena dropped her phone into her bag and started walking down the street. Kate scrambled across the intersection, Lena’s unexpected departure throwing her for a loop. She didn’t seem to be walking toward L Corp or her apartment and Kate was surprised to see her eventually duck into National City Public Library.

Lena scanned the room, looking around, obviously checking to see if there was anyone around who might recognize her. Kate slipped up the stairs, the second level overlooked the main floor and gave Kate a vantage point to keep an eye on Lena who had sat down at one of the computers. Kate watched Lena plug her phone into the tower before 

Kate found the whole situation to be suspicious. Why would Lena need to access a public computer unless she was trying to hide something. The L Corp systems were highly secure, so whatever she was doing, she wanted to be certain it couldn’t be traced back to her or her company. After another minute, Lena stood and made her way quickly to the exit. Kate trailed her to the lobby, bumping into her just before she made it out of the building. Kate’s hope was that the unexpected run-in might throw Lena off enough to reveal some information.

"Oh, excuse me," Kate feigned an apology, "Lena Luthor!"

Lena had a momentary look of panic and Kate thought Lena was going to accuse her of following her. But, ever the Luthor, Lena exhaled, a mask of calm settling on her face. 

"Hello, Kate. I never expected to run into you at a library." Lena replied, adjusting her jacket.

"Yeah, it’s not my usual haunt, but I’ve been considering making a donation to GPL, if only to get Barbara Gordon to stop calling my office," Kate smirked, "So, what are you doing here?" 

Lena cleared her throat, "I’m on the Board of Trustees. We have a meeting this week, I was nearby wanted to confirm I would be attending."

Kate nodded along, but Lena did not volunteer any more information. They stood silently in lobby, staring at one another for a few minutes. 

"It was nice seeing you again," Lena said, "But I really do need to get back to the office."

Lena left, walking briskly, not waiting for Kate to offer any parting pleasantries in return.

Kate found their entire encounter odd and she was starting to get the feeling like everyone in this city was hiding something.


	4. Chapter 4

Kate found herself alone in Lena's office one early afternoon. After their conversation in the library, she had been dropping in unexpectedly on Lena the past week attempting to catch her off guard. Typically, Kate swanned in claiming Lena had the best stocked bar in the city before helping herself to some of Lena's finest water. Lena would roll her eyes and return to her computer or phone call or whatever she had been doing before Kate had made her entrance.

Kate, for her part, was doing her damnedest to find anything incriminating or any evidence linking Lena to Cadmus as J'onn suspected, but thus far, she had come away empty handed. Ultimately, Kate wasn't surprised. Lena was smart, she wouldn't leave an obvious paper trail or documents in a safe or bank deposit box. Kate waited another minute, keeping her eyes on the door. Lena had stepped out to take a call on her cell phone. Once Kate felt sure Lena wasn't returning immediately, she made her way quickly over to Lena's laptop. She pulled a flashdrive from her pocket loaded with a program Winn as designed to copy computer files. Plugging it in, she tapped a few keys, watching as the hard drive started to upload itself to Winn's secure cloud drive.

Striking out herself, J'onn allowed Kate to enlist the help of Winn who was better at the 'nerd stuff' than she was. Kate wasn't too proud to admit that the L Corp security was too extensive even for Batwoman. And if allowing Winn to do some of the legwork meant finishing up this investigation more quickly, Kate was more than willing to step aside.

Kate heard the door start to open. She took two steps over the window looking out to the balcony.

"Beautiful view." Kate casually remarked to Lena.

"It is," Lena agreed.

"You can see the whole city, I'm not surprised you had a balcony installed. Must be nice to sit out there and watch the sun set." Kate said

"I'm afraid I don't take advantage of it as much as I should." Lena settled back down into her desk chair.

Kate's phone buzzed, Winn had done a cursory check of the files and had found nothing.

"Well, sorry to drink and run," Kate shook her empty glass, "But I have an, um, _associate_ waiting on me." Kate smirked.

"Uh, huh," Lena nodded her head, "As always, it's a pleasure seeing you."

Kate waved goodbye to Lena, already halfway out the door. She called Winn from the elevator after dropping her tumbler on the desk of Lena's assistant.

"You came up empty?" She said as soon as Winn answered.

"I'm sorry, Batwoman" He apologized, "But her computer is completely clean."

Kate sighed, "I expected as much. That computer is L Corp property. It could be seized during any type of investigation. If she's hiding anything, she wouldn't keep it there..."

Kate trailed off.

"Batwoman?" Winn prompted,"Did you hang up on me?"

"She would keep it somewhere close to her," Kate said, thinking out loud.

"Oh, OK, you haven't hung up, you're just ignoring me." Winn rambled.

"Shit. Her phone," Kate realized. Lena never went anywhere without her phone. She never left it alone.

"But we've already tried cloning it," Winn said. "She's got that thing set up to be uncrackable."

"Winn, Winn, Winn," Kate chided. "Leave that to me."

Kate lingered on the sidewalk outside of L Corp. She had noted Lena's calendar when she broke into her computer. She was meeting Kara Danvers for lunch in thirty minutes. Kate spotted a vendor selling Brawlin' Emus gear from a cart across the street. She grabbed a baseball cap and a scarf, tossing the man an hundred dollar bill before jogging back to the L Corp building.

She didn't have to wait long before she saw Lena exiting. As she did, Kate spied her slipping her phone into her jacket pocket. Kate let her walk by, keeping her head down before following behind her. She matched Lena's stride until they crossed paths with a group of people walking the opposite direction. Kate jostled a young man, who then stumbled into Lena. The momentary distraction as he apologized to Lena was all Kate needed to slip her hand into Lena's jacket and steal her phone.

"Agent Schott, you still there?" Kate said, dropping her hat onto the head of a passing child.

"Roger, Batwoman." Winn replied.

"I've got the phone, I'm en route." Kate said, heading toward her car. "We've gotta move quick. We most likely don't have long until Lena realizes her phone is missing and bricks it."

"Copy that. I'll be waiting for your arrival."

* * *

"I've got to say, Batwoman," Winn was talking while attempting to hack into Lena's phone, "Pickpocketing was a brilliant idea. So old school, I love it."

"Yeah," Kate said without much enthusiasm. "So how is it coming with the passcode?"

"I've got my system running the numbers, but I'm more concerned about her two factor authentication system. She's got it locked down with fingerprint identification." Winn gestured to the phone.

Kate thought for a moment. "Can you do a search for arrest records?"

"I guess I could," Winn said, pulling up the police database, "But there's no way that Lena Luthor, CEO of L Corp is going to have an arr-, oh wait. Here it is."

Winn pulled up a mug shot of a younger, less put together looking Lena. Her eyeliner was smeared and she looked like she was trying to hold back laughter.

"A 2011 arrest for _public indecency_?" Winn said, unbelieving. "She flashed a female police officer on New Year's Eve."

"You think you know a person," Kate chuckled.

"And her prints are on file, I can use them to break into her phone." Winn fed the data into the program he was using to hack the phone. "And we're in." He said, triumphantly.

Kate watched the files start to upload, crunching her nose up when she thought she smelled something strange. She looked down at the phone on Winn's desk, a small cloud of smoke emitting from the case.

"Uh, Agent Schott? Is it supposed to be doing that?" Kate asked, the smell of burning plastic becoming more potent.

Winn turned just in time to see the phone catch fire and explode, shards of glass and plastic skittering across the room.

"Damn," Winn said, ducking away from the shrapnel. "I guess Lena noticed her phone was missing. Self-destruct mode, very cool."

"She's protective of it, that's a good sign that she's hiding something. Did you manage to get all the data?"

"Yeah, yeah," Winn assured her. "Listen, it's going to take me some time to go through all of this. I'll let you know if I find anything."

* * *

Maggie was not waiting at home when Alex made her way back to their apartment. They were still stepping carefully around each other, Maggie often finding reasons to work late, coming home after Alex was asleep.

But after a few days, Alex was tired. She missed being with Maggie. She missed cooking, or more accurately - burning, dinner together. She missed arguing over what to watch, only to have Maggie fall asleep mid-movie, with her head in Alex's lap. She was ready for her and Maggie to move past this fight.

She texted Maggie to please come home, Maggie replying a few minutes later that she would be there in twenty. Alex got up from the kitchen counter when she heard the door unlatch. Maggie came in, dropping her gym bag to the floor, but stopped just across the threshold.

Alex reached out to Maggie, pulling her further into the apartment. She ran her hands down Maggie's forearms, letting her thumbs rub circles on the backs of Maggie's hands.

Maggie saw Alex's eyes linger on her hands and knew Alex noticed her knuckles were raw and bleeding.

"Don't worry, I haven't been getting into any fights." Maggie said, knowing exactly what Alex was thinking. "It's from the gym. The heavy bag."

"Listen." Alex started, "I don't want us to be fighting anymore. I want to move past this. I miss you." Alex gave Maggie a nervous smile, placing her hands on Maggie's elbows. "I'm ready to forgive you for lying to me about Kate."

Alex thought Maggie would be relieved to be given the opportunity to apologize, so was surprised when Maggie pulled away sharply, her face twisting in anger.

"Forgive me? I have nothing to be sorry for." Maggie said.

"Maggie, you lied to me. Again." Alex replied defensively. This was not how she was expecting this conversation to go. She thought Maggie would understand why she was upset.

"Alex, I'm not going to apologize for having a past." Maggie went on, "Yeah, I’ve not always been perfect, but it's made me who am I today. I'm happy with that and I thought you were too. I thought you loved me." She stepped away from Alex and crossed her arms.

"Of course I do, but you make it hard to trust you. Remember Corrigan?"

"No. You don't get to keep throwing that back in my face." Maggie's temper was rising, her voice getting louder. "Either you've forgiven me for it or you haven't."

"I have, but it feels like you've been trying to sabotage this relationship at every turn. It's like you want me to end things so you can walk away." Alex yelled back. She didn't really know what she was saying, the words flowing out in a stream of hot anger.

"That's bullshit, Alex, and you know it. You want to know what I think is the problem?"

"Oh, please enlighten me. Tell me how this is my fault." Alex could feel tears starting to well up in her eyes, her vision blurring.

"You put me up on a pedestal, you have these unreachable expectations for me; for everyone around you. You know why? Because of Kara. Because you can never live up to her. You can never do what she does and it kills you that you'll never be as good as her. And then when I inevitably disappoint you, you get off on tearing me down."

They were both crying now, the distance between them starting to feel like miles instead of just a few feet.

"You need to leave," Alex said quietly, the fight gone out of her.

Maggie nodded, wiping her face with her sleeve. She grabbed her gym bag, stuffing a few clean shirts in it and taking her phone charger from the nightstand. She opened the door, but stopped before stepping out.

"I never wanted it to be this way." Maggie said as she shut the door gently behind her.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are a couple of tables in this chapter, so I apologize if the formatting doesn't look right

Kate awaited news from Winn in a bar she came across while walking down the National City streets. She helped herself to a drink, a real drink this time, finding a quiet corner booth to relax in. She had a lot on her mind; Maggie, first and foremost. Kate chuckled mirthlessly at the irony of her situation. For once, her intentions had been completely innocent. She had truly only planned on being in National City long enough to help Lena Luthor set up the charity gala. Now she was waist deep in an investigation into someone she considered a friend and was probably in the process of destroying a relationship. Kate had called Maggie a few times, her phone ringing repeatedly before Maggie's voicemail picked up. The last time she tried dialing, it had gone directly to Maggie's voicemail, Maggie obviously having turned her phone off.

Kate scanned her contacts, her thumb hovering over one name.

Renee Montoya.

She toyed with the idea of calling her, Maggie had said Renee was still in National City; that she was a captain in the NCPD now. Kate thought it might be nice to rekindle whatever they once had. She put her phone down on the table and knocked back the last gulp of her whiskey before signalling to the bartender to bring her another round. Maybe it was the whiskey talking, Kate reasoned, and that calling Renee out of the blue wasn't such a good idea.

She hadn't spoken to Renee since the day Renee left Gotham. Their relationship hadn't imploded quite so spectacularly in the way her and Maggie's did. And if Maggie was still willing to speak to her, maybe Renee would too. Kate sipped generously from her fresh drink, wincing at the memory of her and Maggie's last few month's together. Kate had interfered in one of Maggie's investigations, one she had been working on for weeks. At the time, Kate was still figuring out her place as Batwoman and didn't much care about conflicting with local law enforcement. That was her first mistake. The man Kate stopped, the dealer Maggie had been tracking, got off on a technicality when his lawyer argued Batwoman's involvement made the arrest unconstitutional. What should've been a highlight of Maggie's career, lead to a promotion, ended up being an embarrassment for both her and her department.

Her second mistake had been to think things would work out between a cop and a vigilante.

Kate knew things were ending between them, but naively she hoped that proposing might be enough to save their relationship. It wasn't. The trust between them had been damaged beyond repair. Maggie threw herself completely into her job, eventually getting an offer in National City that she couldn't pass up. They fought, again, and before long Maggie left Gotham too.

Kate tried to shake the memories off, there was no point in dwelling on her past mistakes. Especially now when she had a job to do - find Lena Luthor guilty, protect Supergirl. She set her empty glass down. Supergirl. Hero of National City and also, if Kate wasn't mistaken, Kara Danvers: reporter extraordinaire for CatCo Magazine. She didn't have anything to prove her suspicions, but the coincidences she encountered were too many to be ignored. Most damning was that Kara Danvers, a person she knew was hiding something, just so happened to have a sister who worked side by side with Supergirl at the DEO.

Kate was about to order another drink when her phone rang.

"Agent Schott," she answered.

"You need to come back to the DEO, Batwoman," Winn replied, his tone serious. "I found something."

* * *

"Bow down to me, the great and powerful Winn." Winn proclaimed as Batwoman entered the DEO.

"This better be good," Kate said.

"Well, it's not so good for Lena Luthor, but if you were hoping to find something that linked her to Lillian, then it's a good day for you." He leaned back in his chair and clicked his pen a few times.

Kate crossed her arms, "Let's hear it, then."

"OK, so, at first I thought her phone was clean, like her computer. But then I noticed she had a set of spreadsheets saved. They appeared to be a bunch of old expense reports." Winn typed into his computer, loading a handful of documents.

"She's a business woman, that doesn't seem that odd." Kate wanted her partnership with the DEO to be over sooner rather than later, but she wasn't going to implicate Lena Luthor if the evidence didn't back her up.

"That's what I thought too, but I looked a little closer and something was off." He pointed at his monitor. "Check this out."

Winn snapped his screen to display and a spreadsheet appeared on the wall.

  | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I  
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---  
Shiftwood LLC | 617521.04 | 716.02 | 2022.02 | 1752.15 | 3556.15 | 94562.31 | 1158.21 | 657.88  
KDC, INC | 498.25 | 15648.11 | 101.01 | 3352.16 | 6782.35 | 15623.12 | 15781.13 | 20276.04  
Brent Greens LLC | 254.65 | 1598.1 | 2044.65 | 2816.22 | 1658.15 | 15.12 | 668.15 | 16.15  
Triple C Unltd | 684.15 | 16854.24 | 1658.12 | 1752.15 | 3556.15 | 94562.31 | 1158.21 | 657.88  
DM Infinity | 6781.12 | 10.01 | 24101313.04 | 126617.04 | 2217.02 | 1426.02 | 6155.03 | 893402.23  
Fairlawn Co | 246.12 | 6458.12 | 1258.87 | 6485.15 | 1235843.43 | 12684.21 | 65489.31 | 1532.15  
Division Assoc. | 6781.12 | 351227.13 | 6854.32 | 954.24 | 62258.12 | 324.78 | 3251.24 | 6871.16  
  
"What am I looking at?" Kate asked.

"Don't you see? None of these companies are real, the numbers are all random, and the file name, ‘Centra_Mainframe_Baobab’ is nonsensical. There's no way that someone as meticulous as Lena Luthor would keep such shoddy records, unless it was by design." He grinned widely at Batwoman. "And that's when I realized, it's a code."

"A code?" Kate repeated.

"Exactly. The name is the cipher. The first two letters indicates which cell to decode, so in the case of 'Centra,' you start with 'C5.' Then the last letter dictates the letter shift." Winn explained, gesturing wildly with his hands.

"You've lost me already." Kate said, looking more closely at the screen.

"It's brilliant, actually. No one would think twice about Lena having spreadsheets on her phone. They'd have to be looking for it to find anything. This is a code worthy of a Luthor." Winn said excitedly. "And check this out - the fractional part of the number lets you know how many letters the word will have. It's just brilliant." He said again.

"Can you please try and stop fawning over the criminal masterminds?" Kate said, glaring at Winn.

"Sorry. Here, let me show you. This one was edited most recently." He pulled up a document of numbers before hitting a key. Some of the numbers began to shift into letters.

  | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I  
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---  
Shiftwood LLC | docs | en | rt | 1752.15 | 3556.15 | 94562.31 | 1158.21 | 657.88  
KDC, INC | 498.25 | 15648.11 | 101.01 | 3352.16 | 6782.35 | 15623.12 | 15781.13 | 20276.04  
Brent Greens LLC | 254.65 | 1598.1 | 2044.65 | 2816.22 | 1658.15 | 15.12 | 668.15 | 16.15  
Triple C Unltd | 684.15 | 16854.24 | 1658.12 | 1752.15 | 3556.15 | 94562.31 | 1158.21 | 657.88  
DM Infinity | 6781.12 | I | will | keep | up | my | end | 893402.23  
Fairlawn Co | 246.12 | 6458.12 | 1258.87 | 6485.15 | 1235843.43 | 12684.21 | 65489.31 | 1532.15  
Division Assoc. | 6781.12 | 351227.13 | 6854.32 | 954.24 | 62258.12 | 324.78 | 3251.24 | 6871.16  
  
" _Documents en route, I will keep up my end_ ," Kate read off the words that appeared. "I don't know, Agent Schott. It's not the most convincing evidence."

"Check this one out." Winn continued, "It has all of the shipping information for the crate Agent Danvers found."

Kate closed her eyes, trying to puzzle together everything Winn had told her. She felt like they had all the pieces, but couldn't figure out what the bigger picture was supposed to be.

"But we still don't know how Lillian managed to coordinate that shipment into National City." Kate said, working through her thoughts, "And none of this proves that Lena actually conspired with her mother."

Kate paced back and forth. Was it possible they were completely off base? Was Lillian trying to frame Lena for some reason or could it be that the Luthors had nothing to do with any of this at all.

"Wait," Kate froze, "Can you pull up Lena's arrest record again?"

"Uh, sure I guess." Winn looked at her skeptically, "I'm not sure what that has to do with anything."

Winn swapped the display of the coded spreadsheet with Lena's mugshot.

"Shit," Kate sighed, stalking away from Winn's desk toward the exit. "Lillian wasn't the one who ordered that shipment. It was Lena. She's been playing Supergirl this entire time."

"How do you know that?" Winn said at Batwoman's back.

"Look at the name," Kate shouted over her shoulder. "L.L. Thorul. That wasn't Lillian."

Winn checked the record and there at the bottom read, _Luthor, Lena Lutessa_.

"Where are you going, then?" He called back.

"I’ve got to explain to Supergirl how her best friend has been double-crossing her this entire time." Kate replied bitterly.

* * *

Kara held Alex tightly, her head pressed into Kara's chest. Alex had moved past anger and was stationed firmly in despair. Alex wept for hours until Kara was convinced there was no way she had any more tears to shed. Once Alex cried herself out, Kara was able to get a mostly coherent description of the fight Alex and Maggie had.

"I really fucked this up, Kara." Alex said, more tears streaming down her face.

"No, no. You didn't." Kara pulled Alex closer, gently rubbing her back.

"I don't know why I said those things to her. What is wrong with me? It's like I was possessed." Alex exhaled deeply, rubbing her eyes.

"Alex, sometimes the people we love the most are the ones who can hurt us the worst." Kara said softly, "And it's not always fair, but it's how you deal with it going forward that will matter. You need to talk to her."

"I want to apologize, make this right, but she's not answering her phone or any of my texts. I don't even know where she is right now." Alex collapsed back onto the arm of the couch.

"When she cool off, she will call. She loves you, you will work this out." Kara patted Alex's knee. If Maggie didn't call Alex back by the next morning, Kara thought to herself that she would start knocking doors down and drag Maggie back by her ankles.

"I hope so Kar." Alex said.

"You will." Kara brushed some of Alex's hair from her face that was sticking to her damp cheeks. "Listen, Alex, I'm not a relationship expert, but it does sound to me like you two have some things you need to talk about. You can't push your feelings down because you think it will make it easier."

Alex nodded.

"And consider this, if she doesn't forgive you, I'll throw her into space."

Alex's laugh came out like a short bark, but it did help relieve some of tension that was twisting up inside her chest.

Kara's phone rang, she considered ignoring it, but when she slipped it out of her pocket and saw the unknown number, she answered.

Batwoman had an update on her investigation into Cadmus and needed Supergirl to report back to the DEO immediately. Kara was hesitant to leave Alex, but Batwoman was insistent.

"Alex, I have to go back to the DEO," Kara explained, putting her phone back into her pocket. "But I promise I'll make it quick."

"I'll be fine alone. You don't have to worry about me." Alex said.

"You know I do anyway. How about you order way too much takeout and pick a movie and I'll be back before you know it." Kara wrapped her sister up in a firm hug. "With ice cream." She added.


	6. Chapter 6

Kara strode purposefully into the DEO. She greeted the agents she passed pleasantly as she made her way to Winn's workspace. She was slightly taken aback when the found Winn, J'onn, and Batwoman all standing around clearly waiting for her. Winn looked painfully nervous, like he had a well of pent-up energy threatening to burst from inside of him. J'onn had his arms crossed, staring stoically at the floor.

"Evening, everyone." Kara said. She got half-hearted mumbles in response. She looked between the three of them, waiting for someone to explain why she had to return to the DEO in such a hurry. "Well..." She prompted.

"I don't want to be the one to have to tell you this," Batwoman finally started, "But Lena has been working with Cadmus."

"No." Kara said, her brows crinkling in disbelief. "That can't be true. You're wrong."

"I'm sorry, I'm not." Kate said, annoyed Supergirl would question the work she had put into this investigation. "I took what you said to me to heart about trusting your judgment, but the evidence is fairly damning."

"You've had it out for Lena since the moment you started working with us." Kara accused, "You've been looking for any reason to blame her, so of course you claimed to have found something."

Kate looked around for any back up from Winn or J'onn, but it seemed like they were more than happy to let her take the brunt of Supergirl's anger.

"Supergirl, I didn't even want to get involved, but I did my job." Kate said, her own temper flaring. "Winn can confirm what we found."

"Sorry, Supergirl." Winn apologized, finally joining in, "Batwoman is right."

Winn's admission brought the discussion to a standstill.

"J'onn?" Kara hoped he would be able to offer an alternate explanation.

"Supergirl, I think you need to take a step back and look at this situation more objectively. I know Lena is your friend, but we can't trust her." J'onn looked pitying at Kara.

"I'm going to be forced to intervene." Kate said.

"Wait, let me talk to her. There's got to be an explanation." Kara insisted.

"Any time we spend waiting around, trying to make a decision is more time we allow Cadmus to plan their attack." Batwoman said, irritation seeping into her voice.

"No, I've dealt firsthand with the consequences of rushing in headfirst without all of the facts. You will let me talk to Lena and then you can do what you think you must." Kara paused. "After the gala tomorrow evening."

Kara could tell Batwoman was doing her best to tamp down her ire with having to obey orders.

"Batwoman, this charity is important to a lot of people. The money raised is going to help a lot of aliens who need it."

"Yes, but it's also going to be a potential target." Kate said through clenched teeth, "What are you planning on doing about that?"

Kara crossed her arms, turning away from Winn and Batwoman.

"I'm going to stay here. Keep an eye on the situation from the DEO. I can trust you'll go to the gala and be there in the case that anything should go awry."

"Of course," Kate agreed.

"Thank you." Kara said kindly, "I'll also contact Detective Sawyer with the NCPD to report as backup."

"You don't need to do that. I can handle things myself." Kate shook her head.

"This isn't a discussion, Batwoman. You're here to assist us, but I'm in charge. Is that clear?"

"Crystal."

Tension hung leaden in the air, Batwoman still sizing up Supergirl before finally turning to leave. Kara exhaled heavily, rubbing her eyes. She pulled her cell phone from her boot and dialed Alex.

"Hey," Kara sighed after Alex picked up. "I'll be home soon, but I'm going to need you to double that order of potstickers you got."

* * *

Kate did a sweep of the entire building. The gala was in full swing at this point, champagne flowing freely, a surefire way to encourage the attendees to part with their money. She didn't see anything out of the ordinary, but that didn't surprise Kate. The L Corp building was enormous and there were hundreds of people filtering in for the party. Cadmus could literally be anywhere, or nowhere, and Kate would have no way of knowing.

Ditching her Batwoman suit in an empty 12th floor office, Kate made her way to the ballroom. She spotted Lena chatting up a older couple. Kate waved when she caught Lena's eye, grabbing a pair of champagne flutes off the tray of a nearby waiter. She held one out to Lena as she got closer, gesturing to her with the other for a toast.

"I must say, Lena," Kate said, clinking their glasses together, "You throw one hell of a party."

"I couldn't have done it without the support of the Kane Foundation. And I'm glad to see you actually made it, fashionably late, of course."

"Well, you know, had an interview beforehand that ran long." Kate shrugged.

Lena chuckled, leaning toward Kate, placing a hand on her shoulder, "You have a bit of lipstick on your collar." Lena whispered into Kate's ear.

Kate smirked, popping her collar and pulling it closer to her neck, "What can I say, I give a great interview."

Lena nodded knowingly, "I should say so."

"Listen, I'm going to mingle, I'll catch you later?" Kate turned, scanning the rest of the room. She tapped her comms to connect with Supergirl. Kate promised to stay in constant contact with her. She still wasn't sure what to make of Supergirl. After their first meeting, Kate found her flighty and immature, certainly not suited for leading a highly trained team of government agents. But at every turn, Supergirl spoke authoritatively and with confidence. She had earned the respect and loyalty of the DEO and Kate herself couldn't help but to trust her judgment, even if she didn't agree with her.

"Supergirl, you copy?" Kate asked quietly, not wanting to draw unwanted attention to herself.

"I'm here Batwoman, what's the status of the gala?" Kara replied.

"Calm, for now. I didn't find anything on my initial sweep. I haven't checked in with Detective Sawyer yet." Kate reported.

"And Lena?"

"She's here, charming everyone she talks to, so nothing out of the ordinary."

"OK. Touch base with Maggie and let me know if anything changes."

"10-4, Supergirl." Kate said.

* * *

Kara crossed her arms and stalked away from the screen displaying security footage from L Corp. Her movements were tight and anxious and she bounced agitatedly on the balls of her feet. Alex sat nearby, watching Kara pace. Alex refused to spend another day at home with nothing to do but wallow. J'onn agreed to allow Alex back in the DEO as long as she promised not to leave her desk.

"What are you thinking?" Alex asked gently. She knew her sister was struggling with the idea that Lena Luthor might have betrayed her.

"I should be at that gala." Kara muttered.

"I thought you and Batwoman agreed it was too dangerous?"

Alex's question hung in the air. She knew there were few situations that actually posed a threat to her sister. Whatever Kara had told Batwoman to explain her absence at the gala was masking Kara's true feelings.

"I can face danger." Kara finally said. "I've knowingly walked into traps before if it meant helping others. I'm not afraid."

"No one thinks you're afraid. You made a calculated decision and I support that."

Kara walked over to where Alex was sitting, leaning her hip against the desk.

"The reason I'm not there, where I should be protecting innocent people, is because I cannot believe Lena could lie to me. I trusted her and she looked me right in the eye and lied. How? Why? Why would she do that?"

Alex saw the hurt in Kara's eyes and it broke her own heart. If Lena had truly betrayed Kara, Alex was going enjoy throwing her into a cell and tossing away the key.

"I don't know, Kar. Listen, I won't pretend that I understand the inner workings of the mind of Lena Luthor, but I do know she has gone to some great lengths to protect both you and your secret. And that goes a long way with me."

"Batwoman thinks otherwise," Kara said dejectedly. "And everything we've found so far backs her up."

"Yeah, that's true," Alex admitted, "But we don't know Batwoman. Not really. It's not that I don't trust her, but I think in this case you can't listen to either of us. You know Lena best, so I think you're going to have to trust your gut on this one."

"But what if I'm wrong?" Kara asked.

"We will cross that bridge if we come to it, but I don't think you will make the wrong decision." Alex said.

A low rumble in the distance interrupted their conversation. Alex and Kara locked eyes before Alex's gazed switched to the screens behind Kara. A number of the cameras piping the L Corp gala security feed had gone out. They displayed nothing but static.

Kara tapped her comms, "Batwoman, are you there? What's going on?"

The connection crackled, Kara thought she could hear some indistinct sounds of shouts and shattering glass before the line went dead.


	7. Chapter 7

Kate did a lap around the party, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. No one was acting nervous or shifty. Just a lot of rich people rubbing elbows, congratulating each other on their money and drinking their weight in champagne.

She tapped her comms, needing to check in with Maggie.

"Sawyer," Maggie answered.

"Hey, Detective. What's your status?" Kate asked.

"We're making our way down from the roof, doing a sweep and clear of each floor. We've recovered a number of C-4 charges."

"What's your 20?"

"10th floor, East side of the building. Wait -" Maggie cut off. "Kate, we've got some Cadmus thugs in our sites. Keep your eyes peeled, we have no idea how many more there are."

"Copy that, I'll update Supergirl." Kate took another look around the room and was about to contact Supergirl when an explosion rocked the ballroom. The walls shook like they were made of rubber, the glass windows shattered, raining down shards on everyone in the ballroom. Kate ducked away from the windows, doing her best to shield herself from the glass. She thought she heard Kara's voice through the comms, but her ears were still ringing from the explosion.

The room settled, but the people in attendance started to chaotically attempting to escape the room. Screams filled the room and Kate noticed more than one person was injured and bleeding.

Kate tried to reconnect with Supergirl, when a half dozen masked assailants carrying machine guns stormed the room. One fired his gun toward the ceiling, causing more screams to erupt from the terrified people.

"Everyone keep it down, or I will start shooting." The man yelled. He fired a few more times into the air for good measure.

"Batwoman, are you there?" Maggie called into Kate's ear. "We need your help. These Cadmus assholes have got us pinned down on the 8th floor."

Kate eyed the masked assailants to make sure they weren't paying attention to her before answering.

"Got some trouble here too, but I'll be there as soon as I can."

The members of Cadmus were in the middle of shouting at each other, the crying attendees of the gala, and firing rounds into the ceiling. The noise was enough to cover Kate's low conversation.

"Supergirl. You still with me?" Kate asked, reconnecting with Supergirl's line.

"Oh, thank Rao, you're OK." Kara answered.

"For now, but I think we're going to need your assistance."

"I'm not sure I can, Batwoman."

"They have hostages. Whatever you or I are feeling toward Lena Luthor, the people here are innocent. We need to get them out of harm's way."

Kate didn’t hear Supergirl respond. She thought their line may have disconnected again, but seconds later, Supergirl flew into the ballroom through one of the broken windows. Kara hovered above the masked Cadmus agents.

"Boys, can't we do this without the guns?" She asked. They responded by firing at her.

She dodged the hail of bullets, swooping down to grab their rifles. She broke them over her knee and tossed the pieces aside. One man attempted a wild haymaker which she blocked easily. She pushed him into two of the other agents, but before they all hit the ground, she sped over, zip-tying them all together.

"That should do until the police arrive," Kara said as she tightened the ties.

Kara turned her attention to Lena, who had been standing stock still during Kara's rescue.

"Supergirl, I wasn't sure if you were going to come." Lena said softly as Kara approached. 

"More officers are on their way, I'd like to get you out of here before they arrive." Kara looked at Lena, her face impassive. Lena quirked an eyebrow in confusion, not sure why Kara was treating her so impersonally.

"Alright," Lena agreed, "If you think that's best."

Kara placed her arms around Lena's back and behind her knees, picking her up. When she took off into the air, Lena wrapped her arms around Kara's neck to steady herself.

Once she was sure Kara had everything under control, she used the distraction to make her way back up to help Maggie.

After quickly picking up her gear she had stashed away, Kate sprinted down the steps, headed directly for Maggie’s location on the 8th floor. As she rounded the hallway, she could hear gunfire being exchanged. Kate scanned the situation, making the snap decision to approach the Cadmus goons from behind. Kate reasoned if she could take a few out, it would be enough to give Maggie and her team an opening to clear themselves a safe path out of the building.

She spotted a pair of them, taking turns firing at a few NCPD officers. Kate snapped her baton out with a flick of her wrist, extending it to its full length. She approached them quietly, then cracked them both on the back of their heads with two quick blows.

The officers stood up, giving Batwoman a grateful look.

"Where's Detective Sawyer?" She asked.

They pointed down the hall, leading her as cover toward Maggie's location. They took out a few more Cadmus agents, clearing the area as they went.

"Sawyer?" Kate called into an office that Maggie had gotten backed into. "You good?"

"Yeah, Batwoman." Maggie said, standing up from behind an overturned desk. She stepped around it, meeting Kate in the threshold. "Thanks for the backup. How's it going downstairs?"

"Supergirl made it. A few injuries, but everyone's OK." Kate turned to face Maggie trying to decide what their next steps should be. 

Maggie was catching Kate up when movement caught Kate’s eye. A Cadmus agent appeared from the stairwell, pointing a gun in their direction. Kate didn't think, she shoved Maggie out of the way as the man fired. Kate felt pain spread through her chest as the bullets tore through her Kevlar. She collapsed to the floor, the sound of shouting and more gun fire sounding a million miles away. Maggie's face appeared above her, calling to her, telling her to hang on.

* * *

Kara flew Lena back to Lena's apartment. It was a place she knew Lena would be safe and maybe they could figure out what was going on. She had contacted Alex, asking that she meet them.

After settling Lena in, Kara waited in the hallway outside of Lena's apartment for Alex to arrive. A few minutes later, a harried looking Alex rushed out of the elevator.

"Kara, what are you doing? You should've brought her back to the DEO." Alex said.

"No, if we took her there, that would be it. She'd be deemed guilty and then we'll never get any answers from her."

They made their way into Lena's apartment. She was standing in her kitchen, her palms flat on the counter, a glass of water sitting nearby.

"Lena, I want an explanation," Kara said firmly, but not unkindly. "You have to tell me how you've become involved in this. We know you've been communicating with your mother."

Lena closed her eyes tightly, knowing Kara had uncovered her lies.

"I promise you, I don't know anything about those explosives," Lena pressed her fingertips into the cold granite counter top.

"We know it was Cadmus," Kara explained. "What did your mother want from you?"

"Clearly, she was hoping to fake my death and blame the bombing on a grieving daughter and sister, driven mad by tragedy. But to what ends, I do not know."

"Lena, I believe you weren't involved in this bombing." Alex said, "Luckily, Maggie and her team were able to recover the undetonated C-4, but it's still not all accounted for. You know, from the shipment in your name."

Lena pushed back away from the counter, pacing across the room.

"I didn't know Lillian was making plastic explosives." She sighed heavily, "All she asked of me was to order a large quantity of butyl rubber."

Alex scoffed, "Are you really trying to convince me that someone as intelligent as you doesn't know that polyisobutylene is a component of C-4? Did you think your mother was planning on making 10,000 rubber gloves?"

"Alex." Kara said sharply.

"No, Kara. She's right. I ignored the red flags because I wanted to believe her."

"What could your mother possibly offer you to help her?" Kara asked. "Not money or power."

"She offered me the one thing I could never buy no matter how much money or power I could ever acquire. My family." Lena gestured for Alex and Kara to follow her and she lead them into her office. She punched a code into her wall safe, pulling out a worn manila folder. She placed it reverently on her desk and gently opened it so the sisters could see its contents. Inside were a few medical records, an Irish birth certificate, and a photo.

"Lionel wiped any trace of my birth mother from all of my records. I've spent years of my life searching and this whole time, Lillian had this." Lena slid a Polaroid toward Kara. She looked at it, a young mother in a hospital bed holding a newborn baby. _Aoife with baby girl_ , was scrawled across the bottom of the photo.

"Is this you?" Kara asked quietly.

"It's the only photo I've ever seen of my mother. As far as I know, it's the only one that exists."

"Lillian hid this from you." Alex said.

"Yes. To use as leverage. She knew one day she might need something from me and she also knew I would do anything for this." Lena took the photo back and closed the folder. "And she was right."

Kara wrapped Lena up in a hug, she could hear Lena whimper quietly, trying to keep tears from falling.

"I'm so sorry I lied to you, Kara." Lena said, "Can you forgive me?"

"Of course. I know better than anyone what it's like to desperately seek any piece of their home and family." Kara replied, "But we're going to need you to help us."

Lena wiped tears from her cheeks, "I know. And I also think I know where you'll be able to find the rest of the explosives."

Alex's phone rang at that moment, she checked the caller ID, planning on sending it to voicemail when she realized it was Maggie. She excused herself from Lena's office before answering.

"Maggie? Are you OK?" Alex said breathlessly.

"I'm fine, babe. But I need your help." Even with the desperation tinging Maggie's voice, Alex thought it was the sweetest sound she had ever heard.

"Of course, what's wrong?" Alex asked.

"It's Batwoman. She's been shot."

Alex felt her heart seize.

"Bring her to the DEO, I can help her there." Alex went to hang up her phone, when she heard Maggie shout to her.

"No! She can't risk exposing her identity. You're the only person she'll trust."

Alex hesitated, mind racing to come up with a plan, before coming to the only solution.

"Fine.” Alex said, “Take her home. I'll meet you there."


	8. Chapter 8

When Alex pulled into the garage of their building, Maggie was waiting outside of her car. She waved Alex into an empty parking spot.

"I'm so glad you came," Maggie said.

"Yeah, of course. How is she?" Alex asked. She watched Maggie open the back door of her SUV. Alex leaned forward, she could already see the blood coating Batwoman's hands.

"Holding on, but we need to get her upstairs."

"I'm not dead yet." Kate muttered, listening to Alex and Maggie talk.

"Can you walk?" Alex turned her attention to Batwoman.

"Yeah, just help me up." Alex and Maggie each grabbed one of Batwoman's arms. She slid out of the back and they tucked themselves under her shoulders to support her. Kate groaned in pain as she tried to take her first steps.

"No, keep going," Kate insisted when Alex and Maggie tried to stop.

Making their way to the apartment was slow going, but they managed to do so without being spotted or without Kate passing out.

Maggie held Kate up while Alex got the door. 

"Get her over to the table," Alex said, "I'm going to get my supplies."

Alex started digging through the back of a cabinet while Maggie laid Kate out on the kitchen table. Alex returned quickly, gauging their situation.

Alex popped the cap of a pill bottle. "Here, give her these." Alex handed Maggie a few Vicodin tablets. "We've got to get her out of this armor."

They worked quickly to dismantle the pieces of her costume, stripping Kate down to her tank top and boxer-briefs. Maggie hesitated when she reached up to slip off Kate's cowl, still masking her identity from Alex.

"It's OK, Mags. I trust her." Kate said, allowing Maggie to remove her mask.

"Kate Kane, I should've known." Alex said, shaking her head. It made complete sense. Only someone with the resources and connections of a Kane would be able to fashion themselves into a vigilante. 

"Alex," Maggie tried to explain, but Alex cut her off.

"No, we don't have time to talk about this now." Alex picked up a pair of shears, cutting away Kate's shirt. She pulled on a pair of gloves, letting her hand rest gently against Kate's torso near the bullet wounds. "One of these shots was a through and through." Alex said, examining the wound. She grabbed some gauze pads and pressed them down firmly to staunch the bleeding.

"What about the other one?" Maggie asked.

"I'm going to have to remove the bullet. Hand me those forceps and grab the flashlight," Alex instructed. "Kate, I don't have anything to numb the pain and we can't wait for the Vicodin to kick in, so this is going to hurt."

Maggie gripped Kate's hand tightly as Alex inserted the forceps into the wound. 

"Maggie, shine that light over here," Alex said, doing her best to move as little as possible. She could see the bullet had done a lot of damage, but thankfully, it was mostly to soft tissue and not to any of her vital organs. Whatever sort of body armor Kate was wearing, it had definitely saved her life. Kate, to her credit, was suppressing her pained groans, though her eyes watered.

"I almost have it," Alex felt the forceps clamp down on the bullet. She pulled it slowly out of the wound, holding it up to the light after finally removing it.

"Nine millimeter hollow point," Maggie observed, "Pretty standard, actually." 

"Thanks for the update," Kate grimaced, making an attempt to sit up.

"Slow your roll, there." Alex said as Maggie placed a hand on Kate's shoulder. "I've gotta sew you up first and then you're not going anywhere."

"I've got to help Supergirl stop these bastards." Kate protested. 

"I didn't think you cared all that much about Cadmus," Maggie said.

"Yeah, well, they shot me, so now I'm pissed." Kate tried to get up again, but stopped when Alex poked her with a needle. "Ow! What the fuck?" Kate barked.

"If you would stop moving, I could be more careful." Alex said, her voice dripping with mock sweetness.

Kate flopped back on the table, sighing in resignation. 

"That's better," Alex said, beginning her sutures.

* * *

By the time Alex was done stitching Kate's wounds, Kate was starting to feel drowsy from the Vicodin. Maggie found some clean clothes for Kate to sleep in. They helped her change, then carried her over to their bed, gently resting her on top of the blankets. Kate didn't stir, the painkillers Alex had administered allowing her to rest somewhat comfortably. They stood next to the bed, Alex wanting to watch her for a minute to make sure her breathing remained steady. Maggie waited with her, but kept some distance between them.

"Thank you for helping her." Maggie said quietly, "You didn't have to and I want you to know how much I appreciate it."

"Maggie, I will always be here to help you." Alex said, "And you can also be sure I'll keep her secret. I promise you."

"I know."

Alex cleared her throat, "Listen, you should really take her to the hospital tomorrow."

"I don’t think we could come up with an explanation for Kate Kane being used for target practice." Maggie said.

"I’ve got a friend at NC General. She owes me a favor. Kate, at the very least, needs an x-ray to make sure I didn’t miss any bullet fragments and my friend can do it off the books."

"Thank you, Alex." Maggie smiled at her, wishing she could hold Alex and never let go.

Once they were sure Kate was settled, Alex and Maggie walked back over to the couch. They hadn't yet apologized to each other, but they both felt they had moved past their argument, or, more accurately, their need to be near each other trumped any hurt feelings. They curled up together, Alex stretching her legs out to the full length of the couch, Maggie wrapping her arms tightly around Alex's middle. They lay unmoving for some time. Maggie rested her head on Alex's chest, comforted by the feeling of it rising and falling as she breathed. Neither had been hurt today, but given their proclivity for finding trouble, the next time could be different. Maggie thought their argument seemed so stupid in hindsight. Why would she ever want to waste any moment with Alex when it all could so easily be taken away.

"Maggie," Alex finally whispered, running her fingers through Maggie's hair. "I'm so sorry. I held your past against you and that is absolutely unfair of me. I got jealous, thinking I could never live up to her." Alex gestured toward a currently snoring Kate. "Although at this moment, I'm feeling decidedly less jealous."

Maggie propped her chin up on Alex's chest so she could look up at her. "That's crazy. If I wanted Kate, I would still be with her. Alex, I only want you. And I'm sorry you feel like I have one foot out of the door. I promise you, it's not true. If anything, I'm sometimes scared you'll leave me." Maggie's voice wavered at the end of her sentence. She felt tears threatening to fall again.

"Why in the world would you think that?" Alex asked.

"It's stupid. I'm the first woman you've been with; your first real relationship. I'm afraid one day you'll wake up and realize you could do better."

"It's true," Alex said. Maggie's face twisted in pain before she noticed the way Alex's lips pulled up in the corner. "That it's stupid."

Maggie buried her face in Alex's shirt, taking in Alex's scent; sharp and coppery from the blood that wasn't hers.

Alex went on. "Maggie, I love you and I will only ever want you."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." Alex echoed, pulling Maggie up so she could meet their lips in a long, hungry kiss. "Just tell me one thing,”

"What's that?" Maggie said, kissing the corner of Alex's mouth.

"Promise me that you don't have any other vigilante ex-girlfriends. I think one is all I can handle."

Maggie laughed into another kiss. "I promise, Danvers."

* * *

Alex awoke after a night sleeping on the couch with a crick in her neck, her leg hanging off the side, and pins and needles in her arm. However, in her estimation, it was one of the best nights of her life. Maggie was resting on top of her, looking significantly more comfortable, with Alex more or less acting like a human cushion for her. But it didn't matter because it was Maggie. In fact, Alex felt like she could've woken up in an empty yurt and still would've been happy if it meant waking up to Maggie.

Alex ran her hands through Maggie's hair, she didn't think she would ever tire of the feeling of those soft locks between her fingers.

"Good morning," Alex said quietly, dropping a kiss on the top of Maggie's head.

"Hrmmm, no. Don't wanna wake up," Maggie mumbled sleepily.

"I'd certainly prefer to spend the day right here, but I should start the coffee so we can get ready for work. We've got a criminal mastermind to thwart." Alex rubbed the side of Maggie's arm, but Maggie didn't move.

"What if I promise to make you some extra dry toast?" Alex tried again.

Maggie responded by wrapping her arms around Alex's neck and kissing a trail up her collar bone.

"There's nothing I can do to convince you not to get up?" Maggie asked devilishly.

"You make a compelling case, but-" In one smooth motion, Alex swung both legs off the couch, grabbing onto Maggie's thighs and standing up. Maggie yelped in surprise, but instinctively tightened her grip around Alex's neck, allowing Alex give her a piggyback ride into the kitchen.

"Look at that," Maggie said, kissing the back of Alex's neck while Alex reached into the cabinet for the coffee grounds. "I'd say this is a win-win."

"Could you two be any more disgustingly cute?" Kate groaned from the bed.

"Good morning to you too, Sleeping Beauty," Maggie said, slipping off of Alex's back, wincing a bit as her bare feet hit the cool floor. "Or should I say, good morning, you look like the walking dead."

"I got shot, you know." Kate snarked back. "I thought you were supposed to be nice to me."

"Do you want me to make you some nice, dry toast too?" Alex asked sarcastically.

"I hate you both." Kate grumbled.

"Hey, with that attitude, you're not going to get a sticker from the doctor." Maggie said.

"Doctor?" Kate asked, leaning up on her elbows.

"Relax, I'm going to have a friend of mine check you out, no questions asked. I want to make sure you're not bleeding internally or anything." Alex replied.

"Thanks." Kate said sincerely, grateful for Alex's kindness.

"Yeah, I would hate it if you died on our bed." Alex added, "We just bought that mattress."

Maggie choked on a sip of coffee, trying to suppress a giggle.

"Laugh it up, assholes. You clearly both deserve each other." Kate rolled off the bed, "I'm going to clean up a bit."

"Bathroom's around the corner," Maggie pointed.

They watched Kate shuffle through the apartment, shutting the door behind her. Alex poured herself some coffee, fishing the creamer out of the refrigerator.

"Hey, listen," Alex started, "After this is whole thing with Cadmus is over, I was wondering if you might like to go on a vacation. With me."

"Danvers, are you asking if you can whisk me off on some romantic getaway?" Maggie smiled,

"Maybe." Alex leaned closer to Maggie. "I was thinking some place warm, somewhere secluded."

Maggie closed the remaining space between them, pressing her lips to Alex's, savoring their nearness. Their fight seemed so insignificant at this moment as she stood here, her arms draped on Alex's shoulders, hands scratching the back of Alex's neck. She couldn't remember why she let their argument get so far out of hand, especially now as Maggie realized this was it for her. She wasn't scared, just a feeling of surety that Alex was who she was meant to be with.

"Keep talking," Maggie said.

"I can still hear you!" Kate shouted from the other side of the bathroom door.

Alex rolled her eyes dramatically, before dropping her forehead against the kitchen counter. Maggie laughed, rubbing Alex's back.

"Get dressed, I'll take Kate to the hospital."

"Thank you," Alex mumbled, still face-down on the table.

* * *

Lena agreed to spend the night at the DEO under protective custody after Kara all but insisted, although neither did much but doze. Kara paced around making small talk with a few agents working overnight, while Lena checked emails on her phone. Early in the morning, Kara stopped by the room they had set Lena up in to check on her. She was surprised to find Lena awake, sitting up in the bed, half-heartedly flipping through an old issue of CatCo Magazine.

"Hey," Kara said lightly, "You should be trying to get some sleep."

"Not likely to happen here. Too bright. You should see the industrial blackout curtains I have in my bedroom." Lena smiled, dropping the magazine to the floor.

Kara slid a nearby chair closer to Lena's bedside. They sat in silence for a few minutes.

"Listen, I know I already apologized," Lena said, "But I feel like need to again."

"Lena, you don't need to keep beating yourself up over this, I know you're sorry." Kara insisted.

"I truly am." Lena looked to Kara, her eyes wide and pleading. "And I also need to you to know even though I was communicating with Lillian, there was never a chance I would ever betray your secret. I would never do anything to hurt you. You're my best friend."

"I know, Lena." Kara nodded. She reached out to take Lena's hand, threading their fingers together and squeezing tightly. "And I understand, I had nothing when I arrived here. For years, I lived thinking I would never have any part of Krypton again. When Kal took me to the fortress, it was like I got my family back."

"I really appreciate that, but I am responsible for what happened." Lena turned away from Kara.

"Lena," Kara whispered.

"It was pure luck no one was killed last night." Lena's voice was wavering. "So, I too understand that there should be consequences for my actions. In fact, I'm fairly certain minimum sentencing for an accessory to a felony is at least five years."

"No. I'm not going to let that happen." Kara said firmly. "You've been the bearer of your family's sins long enough."

Silence fell over them again. Lena felt comforted by the feeling of her hand in Kara's warm, firm grasp.

"So, you're Irish." Kara said, attempting to start up their conversation again.

Lena chuckled at the non-sequitur, "Yeah, I guess so."

"Have you been to Ireland?" Kara asked.

"I have," Lena said, "A couple of years ago. I was trying to find information about my birth mother."

"Did you find anything?"

"Not really."

"I've never been." Kara said, "What's it like?"

"Beautiful." Lena sighed, "I sometimes wish I never left."

"Why did you?" Kara asked.

"Lex."

Kara didn't need further explanation. Lex's breakdown and trial were well covered in all of the media.

"The Luthors needed me." Lena continued, "They felt they needed to present a united front to the press."

"But before that?"

"Before that? Before Lex? Before the Luthor family fell apart?" Lena shrugged, "I was living in Killarney with a barmaid named Bridget. She was trying to help me track down my mother. I didn't have much luck, we mostly spent our time swilling Guinness and watching rugby matches."

Kara laughed, "I'm having a hard time imagining you sitting in some pub drinking beer and shouting at a television."

"It was nice." Lena said wistfully, "Bridget was the first person who didn't care what my last name was. She made me feel like I was enough and that I didn't have to live up to some impossible standard. I could just be myself with her. Leaving was hard."

Kara rubbed her eyes, "I'm sorry, Lena."

"It's not your fault." Lena said, "You know, I never told anyone that before. It actually makes me feel a little better to talk about her."

"You are a good person, Lena Luthor. Even if you don't think so." Kara looked Lena directly in the eyes. "And you deserve someone who will tell you that every day."

Their gazes locked, but the moment was quickly broken by Kara's phone ringing. Lena let go of Kara's hand, as Kara pulled her phone from her boot.

"It's Alex," Kara said by way of explanation. "She'll be here soon."

"Then I better make myself presentable." Lena smiled, slipping of the bed and padding softly toward the bathroom.


	9. Chapter 9

Alex stood at the head of the room, addressing Supergirl and her team of agents.

"Thanks to the coordinates provided to us by Lena Luthor, we've been able to pinpoint the location of what appears to be an abandoned distribution center about 30 klicks West of National City."

Winn displayed the aerial satellite footage on the screen behind Alex.

"We believe this to be the current Cadmus base and where we expect to find a large stockpile of C-4. Supergirl and I will infiltrate the facility with the aim of recovering the plastic explosives and shutting down their operations for good. Any questions?"

Alex let her gaze scan the room, Lena was watching intently from the back of the room. Her eyes were fixed on Alex and she didn't notice how closely Kara was keeping an eye on her.

"Dismissed," Alex stated. She let the room empty before approaching Lena and Kara.

"All set?" Alex asked Kara, who nodded in agreement.

"I should let you two get to it," Lena said.

"Wait," Alex stopped her, "Lena, I want to thank you for helping us. We wouldn't be able to stop your mother without your help."

"You're welcome." Lena turned to Kara, touching Kara at her elbow, Lena letting her hand slide down to Kara's wrist, "Please be safe." Lena said softly before leaving the sisters alone.

"Alright," Kara crossed her arms, "Let's go."

* * *

Alex strapped her vest on, making sure she had all of the tools she would need. She went over the plan in her mind. Visualizing her task helped her clear her head and let her shake off any residual nervousness. She reached into the trunk of the SUV, pulling out her favorite alien gun. She checked the firing pin before sliding it into her thigh holster. Kara landed beside her, having done a preliminary lap around the building, making sure they had a way in.

"Hey guys, fancy meeting you here." Alex whipped around, readying her service weapon only to see Kate in her costume, walking around the van.

"Batwoman! What are you doing here?" Alex asked.

"Can't let you two have all the fun, plus I thought you could use my help."

"You shouldn't be here," Alex said, knowing the severity of Kate's injuries. She was even sure how she was managing to stand, let alone fight.

"Alex, she's right, we could probably use the extra set of hands."

"See? I agree with Supergirl for once." Kate smirked, "So, what's the plan?"

Alex knew there was no point in arguing with either of them. Their mission was time sensitive and she couldn’t waste precious minutes getting into Kate’s stupidity. Alex shook her head and laid out their plan. "Supergirl will use her x-ray vision to locate the C-4 and then cover me while I go in there and get it."

"That's one idea. But how about this," Kate said, "I act as a diversion to distract the Cadmus agents giving you guys all the time in the world."

"That's too dangerous." Alex shook her head, "You should go with Supergirl and I'll cause the distraction."

"I don't know," Kara said.

"That's crazy, If any of those charges are rigged to blow, someone is going to have to disarm them and I'm certainly not qualified to do that." Kate argued.

The three women stood at an impasse.

"We can't waste any more time," Kate said. "Supergirl, you're in charge. What do you want us to do?"

Kara took a hard look at both Kate and Alex before speaking. "Batwoman, you distract the guards, Alex and I will recover the C-4."

Alex gritted her teeth, but didn't want to protest any further for fear of revealing Kate's identity.

"Fine." Alex said simply. "Supergirl, can you do one last fly around, make sure we're clear to move in."

Once Kate and Alex were alone, Alex felt free to lay into her. "What the fuck do you think you're doing? You're going to get yourself killed."

"Relax, I'm fine." Kate waved off Alex's concerns.

"How are you not in severe pain right now?"

"I talked that pretty doctor friend of yours into giving me a shot of fentanyl while Maggie was bringing the car around."

"For Chrissakes, Kate." Alex chastised.

"Ignoring me for a second, we have to talk about Cadmus. Recovering their explosives isn't going to stop them, you know what you have to do." Kate locked eyes with Alex "If one of those charges happens to go off..." She trailed off.

"It'll destroy this place for good." Alex finished, catching Kate’s implication.

"Exactly."

Kara touched down next to Alex. "You both ready?"

Kate and Alex nodded in agreement. They approached the building, once close, Kate slipped through the door, leaving Alex and Kara behind. Kate saw half a dozen guards milling around. Hoping to create a somewhat strategic distraction, she gave the room a once over. She noticed a catwalk suspended from the ceiling. A guard stood near some scaffolding that she felt confident she could use to reach the upper level. 

Silently, she snuck up behind the guard, snapping out her baton and landing a quick blow to his knee, shattering his kneecap before cracking him across the back of his head, knocking him unconscious. She dragged his body into the shadows and quickly scaled the scaffolding to reach the catwalk.

At the higher vantage point, she spotted crates stacked together on the other side of the catwalk, strung together with ropes that were still attached to a pulley.

"Bingo," Kate said.

She made her way quickly across the catwalk, making sure to keep her footsteps light.

Reaching the crates, she grabbed the end of the rope giving the stack a firm shove with her shoulder. The crates fell, smashing against the concrete floor, the sound echoing loudly through the room. She jumped off the catwalk herself, using the pulley to descend to the ground.

"I forgot my pencil," Kate said to the stunned guards.

Before they could gather their wits and start firing at her, Kate dropped a smoke bomb, using the screen to escape. She heard them shouting a second later and from the sound of their boots thudding toward her, knew they weren't too far behind.

Kate ran down a flight of stairs. She wouldn't have to keep the guards distracted for long, knowing Alex and Supergirl would be working quickly. She jogged through the lower level, hoping to lead them on a wild goose chase when she collided into a solid figure.

It was Director Henshaw.

Or not.

Half of his face was obscured by a metal plate. Kate stood dumbly, frozen by his unexpected appearance. He swung his fist, connecting with her stomach, sending her careening across the room. He stomped over, about to land another blow when he was suddenly felled to his knees. Kate staggered up, seeing Alex with an alien-looking gun trained on the man. Alex tapped her comms.

"Supergirl. We have a problem. Cyborg Superman is here."

"What was that?" Kate asked.

"Later. Are you OK? We still need some time." Alex said.

The voices of the Cadmus agents filled the stairwell. Alex stepped back, disappearing from view of their assailants while Kate shouted, leading them away. Alex and Kara had already located most of the C-4, now all Alex needed was just a few minutes to set the charges that would raze the building to the ground. Kara punched through the ceiling just as Cyborg Superman staggered back up to his feet.

"Go" Kara called to Alex, "I've got this."

Alex didn't hesitate. She already scouted out the places she wanted to set the charges. She pulled the blasting caps from her belt, inserting them into the blocks of C-4. Setting them up, she tapped her comms again.

"Supergirl, you ready?" Alex heard a few heavy thumps before Kara responded.

"Yep, ready when you are."

"Batwoman, you clear?" Alex asked. Kate's line was silent. "Batwoman, do you copy?"

"Yeah, yeah. I hear you Danvers. I'm clear." Kate's voice was heavy and pained. Alex disconnected their line, a bad feeling weighing down on her.

"Kara, I'm lighting the charges. Two minutes." Alex set off the detonator, sprinting toward the exit.

Kara met her outside. "Where's Batwoman?" Kara asked.

"You didn't see her out here?" Alex tried to connect her comms with Kate, but the line was dead. The first explosion went off and Alex started to panic. "Kara, I think she's still inside."

* * *

Kate couldn't move. She had found a place to hide in some sort of storage room, but once she ducked behind some shelving, she couldn't force herself to stand back up. Between getting sucker punched by a robot and the fentanyl wearing off, the pain was becoming unbearable. Kate refused to let that get in the way of Supergirl's mission. In her mind, that was always the most important thing and if Kate ended up a causality, so be it. So when Alex asked if she was clear, she agreed.

The first explosion rocked the entire building. Kate covered her head, knowing the next blast would be the end. The second went off, much closer this time. Kate closed her eyes, she felt the room heat up, but didn't feel like she herself was on fire. Opening her eyes, she saw Kara standing over her, using her cape and body to protect Kate from the flames and debris.

"Let's move," Kara said, picking Kate up and flying them both out of the burning facility to safety.

Alex was waiting anxiously for their return. She exhaled heavily when she spotted Kara carrying Kate.

"You are so dead," Alex said to Kate as Kara descended slowly.

"Yeah, I know," Kara let go of Kate, only to grab onto her again when it became clear Kate wasn't able to stand on her own. "But hey, looks like it's mission accomplished."

"C'mon, let's get you into the SUV." Alex pulled the back door open.

"I think that's a good idea," Kate said, "I'm going to pass out now."

Kara hoisted Kate into the backseat, shutting the car door.

"Let's get out of here," Kara said, "I'll ride with you."

"Hey wait," Alex threw her arms around Kara, squeezing her in a tight hug. "Thanks for going back in there,"

Kara peered through the window, "She was ready to die for us, so I had to be sure that didn't happen. I don't know who she is, but I think she needs to know that there are people who have her back."

"You're right, Kara. I'm glad she has you." Alex got into the driver's seat, waiting for Kara to get in next to her.

"Hey, she's lucky to have both of us. Nobody messes with the Danvers sisters."

"You got that right." Alex agreed, driving away from the wreckage.


	10. Chapter 10

"I'm duly impressed," Mary said, looking over Kara's article, "You managed to turn a disaster at the Alien Amnesty gala into a gripping tale of parental tyranny and filial disobedience."

"Thanks, Ms. Bromfield." Kara beamed.

"You even managed to get a statement from Kate Kane. Nice work, I hear she wasn't at the gala very long."

"Lena Luthor managed to shake her out of some hotel room long enough to talk to me. Although, she was pretty apologetic for not being much help. Kate said she was already three sheets to the wind by the time she arrived at the gala; she thought the Cadmus takeover was some sort of avant-garde performance art piece."

Mary chuckled, "That woman is certainly something."

"She really is."

"I'm sorry your mystery alien didn't show," Mary said carefully.

"I'm starting to rethink my theory. Maybe she's some sort of hobo vigilante, riding the rails helping out once only to move on, never to be seen again." Kara said wistfully.

"You have quite the imagination, but if that's the truth, it would be a story I would want to read."

"That's probably not the case," Kara admitted. 

"You never know, Kara. There are a lot of strange things in this world that may seem impossible until we encounter them. I wouldn't write anything off yet." Mary said.

"Maybe you're right."

"Of course I'm right, now back to work." Mary smiled, teasingly kicking Kara out of her office.

* * *

Kara rode the elevator up to Lena's apartment, trying to tamp down her worry. She swung by L Corp that afternoon to see if Lena wanted to go on an impromptu lunch, only to be completely taken off guard when Jess told her Lena wasn't at work.

Kara knocked lightly on the door, breathing a sigh of relief when Lena opened it.

"Kara! What are you doing here?" Lena smiled, stepping aside to allow Kara to enter.

"I guess I'm here to ask you the same thing. I went to L Corp, you weren't there."

"I know." Lena nodded.

"It's Tuesday."

"Yes it is."

"I'm sorry, I guess I'm a little confused. You don't normally take days off in the middle of the week." Kara scrunched her face up, "Or ever, for that matter."

Lena sat down on the couch, gesturing for Kara to do the same. "Both I and the board thought it might be best if I took some time off."

That's when Kara noticed the half packed suitcases sitting on the floor.

"Temporarily, of course," Lena added when she saw Kara's look of alarm.

"You're leaving? Where are you going?" Kara voice tensed in panic.

"Ireland. Now that I know my mother's name, I'm going to see if I have any family left. I also have some unfinished business there I should probably attend to."

Kara sank down into the cushions, "How long will you be gone?"

Lena turned away, "I'm not sure."

"But you will come back?" Kara's eyes were pleading.

"Yes."

Kara could hear the pain in Lena's voice even having only uttered one word. She wanted to try and convince her friend to stay, but understood why Lena needed to leave. 

"Lena, I'm so sorry for how everything turned out. With your mother and the DEO. You deserve so much more than to be constantly judged, and scrutinized, and surveilled."

"I'm sorry, too. For involving you in the endless parade of Luthor family tragedies." Lena said sadly.

"No, don't say that. I'm glad we're friends. And no matter what you do or don't find in Ireland, I want you to know that you will always have a family here with me. And Alex. And Maggie, Winn, M'gann. We all care about you."

Lena threw her arms around Kara's neck, wrapping her into a tight hug. "Thank you, Kara. For everything."

Kara stood finally, "Well, I should probably head back to CatCo."

Lena walked Kara to the door, they hugged again, more briefly this time.

"Safe travels," Kara said, "And send me a postcard."

* * *

Maggie reclined on a chair in the DEO break room, her legs propped up in Alex's lap. She flipped through an issue of _Wild + Free_ , the outdoor magazine James was working for these days. He recently had a photo essay published about hiking in Death Valley and had sent copies to everyone.

"Maybe we should go camping," Maggie said, pointing at an advertisement for tents.

Alex put her sandwich down, wiping her hands off before taking the magazine from Maggie.

"Let me get this straight, I offer to take you on a romantic trip and this is what you want to do? Sleep on the ground and not take showers?"

"Hey, camping can be romantic. You and me, under the stars?" Maggie leaned over to give Alex a light peck on her lips.

"Hmm, maybe. But I was leaning toward something more ocean-side. I was thinking I could teach you how to surf." Alex said.

"That's the thing you do with the board and the tight spandex suits?" 

"Yeah."

Maggie gave Alex a once over, imagining her in the water, wet hair clinging to her neck, the sun glistening off her perfect skin.

"You've convinced me, the beach it is," Maggie said, climbing into Alex's lap, kissing her long and slow. Alex tugged at the bottom of Maggie's button down, untucking it from her pants.

"Is no where sacred for you two?" Kate asked, walking by the open door,

"Batwoman," Maggie said, standing up and straightening her shirt. "You're still here."

"Don't worry, not for much longer. I was debriefing with Director Henshaw and I'm just about to be on my way. I was hoping to get one last word with you, Alex. And Supergirl."

"Sure," Alex said a quick goodbye to Maggie who needed to get back to work before walking out with Batwoman to find Kara. She was standing over Winn's shoulder, watching intently as he showed her something on his computer.

"Can I have a minute with Supergirl?" Kate asked.

Winn nodded pleasantly, heading off to find something to eat.

"I wanted to thank you both for saving my life." Kate started, once the three of them had a moment of relative privacy.

"Of course," Kara said. 

"I know my presence here has caused trouble for both of you, but I'm glad that in the end I was able to help you stop Cadmus."

"We couldn't have done it without you," Kara smiled.

"But maybe you should stay in Gotham for a while," Alex added.

Kate laughed, "Yeah, you're probably right."

Alex shook Kate's hand firmly. Kate reached out to do the same to Kara, but was caught off guard when Kara wrapped her arms around her shoulders.

"Nope, I'm a hugger." Kara said. "And listen, if you ever run into any trouble and you need my help. Don't hesitate to call. We've got your back now."

"I will. Thank you, Supergirl."

* * *

Kate leaned heavily into the corner of the booth, propping her knee up on the cracked vinyl seat. She stopped at the shabby diner on her way out of town, not quite ready to make her way back to Gotham knowing that the only things waiting for her were an empty penthouse and a barren fridge.

Kate rested her head against the window, staring down at her untouched cup of coffee, the greasy surface making her stomach turn. She shifted, trying to find a comfortable position, wondering if her queasiness was from the pain of her gun shot wounds. The last bit of her adrenaline high from the past few days was finally wearing off and she was beginning to feel every hit her body had taken.

Working with Supergirl had been an unexpected experience, Kate thought. Their situations couldn't be more different. Supergirl was government sanctioned, she was supported by an entire agency, and the city treated her like their hero and savior. Kate was forced to stay in the shadows, constantly keeping one eye over her shoulder, never sure whether she would eventually be taken down by one of the psychopaths that had a tendency to roam the streets or by a member of Gotham's Finest. The police department didn't differentiate between her vigilante business and criminal activity. They considered her just as dangerous and pursued her with equal tenacity.

Seeing Maggie had been hard. Though Kate was certainly happy that Maggie had gotten her life back together and found someone she could share a life with, it had the aching effect of reminding Kate of all the things she didn't think she could ever have. Her life was too dangerous and unpredictable, not the life someone would ever willingly be a part of.

"Hey, there stranger."

Kate turned her head toward the voice, her breath catching in her throat when she saw who had approached the table.

Renee Montoya.

Looking better than Kate remembered.

She noticed Renee was in street clothes, dark jeans, a soft looking t-shirt, and brown leather jacket, so her being here probably wasn't official business. Kate did her best to sit up without pulling her stitches and put on her most casual smirk.

"Renee Montoya, as I live and breathe. What are you doing here?"

Kate had loved Maggie as much as she was possibly able to. But in the deepest, most painful, broken part of her heart, Kate had always considered Renee the one who got away. Or rather, the one she let walk away. And she had always regretted it.

Renee sat down across from Kate, "Well, I got word that someone was trying to skip town without seeing me." She smiled and brushed some loose hair from the side of her face.

"Did you put out a BOLO on me? I'm flattered." Kate joked.

"I talked to Maggie, Kate. She said you got shot, that you almost died in an explosion."

Kate scoffed, "You know Mags is such a drama queen. I'm fine."

"C'mon, Kate, don't be like that." Renee reached across the table, taking Kate's hand and squeezing it firmly. "How are you?"

Kate was exhausted and in too much pain to keep up her facade of cool indifference. And Renee looked at Kate with such softness and caring, that Kate crumbled immediately.

"I'm so tired," Kate said softly, Renee wasn't sure she heard her. She watched Kate lean on her elbows, pressing her thumb and forefinger into her eyes, trying to stop the tears from streaming down her face.

Renee quietly got out of the booth, sliding in next to Renee. She slipped her arms around Kate's neck and shoulders, pulling Kate's head down into her chest. Renee let Kate cry quietly into her, feeling Kate wrap her arms around Renee's waist.

"You've done so much to protect us," Renee said, pressing her cheek into the top of Kate's head, "Let me take care of you for once."

"You know I can't ask you to do that."

"You're not asking. But I'd like it if you would let me in. Just a bit."

Renee felt Kate's head nod in agreement.

"Listen, you don't have to be back in Gotham tonight, do you?" Renee asked.

"No, not really."

"Then come home with me, let me cook you dinner and we can discuss my transfer." Renee stood up from the booth, holding her hand out to help Kate up.

"What transfer?" Kate asked, struggling to get her jacket on.

"Well, I may have put my name on the list for a position with Gotham PD. And it just so happens they've called me up to head their Major Crimes Unit." Renee smiled, holding the sleeve of Kate's jacket out for her.

"Why would you ever do that? Why would you want to work in a place like Gotham when you have a job here?" Kate dropped a few dollars on the table before following Renee out of the diner.

"National City is too easy. I think it's making me soft. Plus, I know this girl there who I never could stop thinking about."

Kate felt her heart skip a beat. She was starting to realize this was more than Renee feeling some sort of obligation to Kate, like she needed to be nice out of guilt or gratitude, or whatever else. Never in her life had someone chosen her. Given something up for her. She stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, staring at the woman who so casually walked in and flipped her life around.

Renee turned and quirked and eyebrow at Kate, unsure as to why she stopped. She was about to ask when Kate rushed toward her, taking Renee's face in her hands and pulling her into a hard and passionate kiss. It was everything Kate was longing for, feeling close and connected with someone who truly mattered. Renee held her tighter, letting her hands trace up Kate's back, underneath her jacket.

"I can't promise things are going to be perfect, and knowing us I imagine things will end up being pretty difficult." Renee said, their foreheads still pressed together. "But I want to try. You're worth it."

They kissed again, more softly this time. Kate sighed contentedly, finally breaking away.

"Do you think you could make your abuela's empanadas? They were always my favorite."

Renee laughed, slinging her arm around Kate's back. "Yeah, I think I can manage that."


End file.
